Growing Up
by Citcat
Summary: FINAL CHAPTER UP! Six best friends growing up facing their problems in high school and life together. Living the ups and downs together. Main Characters: Stacy Keibler, Stephanie McMahon, Trish Stratus, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, and Paul Levesque HHH
1. Getting Ready For School

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 1: Getting Ready For School

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea of the story and any names you don't recognize as a wrestler's name.

Summary: Six best friends growing up facing their problems together. Living the ups and downs together.

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Stephanie McMahon's alarm clock goes off at six in the morning. Steph pulls her pillow over her head, not wanting to get up. Lazily she took one arm and hit the snooze button. 

Peeking his head inside his sister's room, Shane laughed. He knew of the perfect way to wake Steph up. Shane smiled evily as he crept down stairs.

Shane pulled out one of the pictures and filled it will cold water. Boy, he was going to get a kick out of this. He turned the water off and headed back up stairs.  

Tip toeing into Steph's room, he walked over to her bed. He stood still for a minute. Quickly he dumped the water on Steph and ran out of the room, and into his own. 

Hearing their daughter's blood curdling scream. Both Vince and Linda ran into Steph's room to see her standing there in wet pajamas. 

"What the HELL happened to you?!" Linda asked walking over to her daughter. 

"Shane through water on me!" Steph pouted. 

"Ohh is that so?" Vince questioned knowing the answer. "Shane, come here."

Shane slowly came to Steph's room, acting as if he just woke up. 

"Yes, dad?" Shane asked rubbing his eyes.

"Don't 'Yes, dad?' me! Why did you dump cold water on your sister?" Vince said sternly. 

"Her alarm clock went off and she wouldn't get up." Shane confessed. "You should have seen the look on her face."

"I'm gonna get you Shane." Steph yelled about to chase after he brother.

"You two stop." Linda said. "Now you two get ready for school and breakfast will be done when you are finished."

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Randy Orton woke up at six in the morning to the sun shinning in his face. Today was a beautiful day, and also the first day of high school as a senior.

Randy got out of bed and headed down stairs, where he was greeted by him mom.

"Good morning." Mrs. Orton said flipping a pancake.

"Good morning to you too." Randy answered sitting down at the table.

"Are you ready for your first day as a senior?" Mrs. Orton asked.

"Yeah, I guess. It's not that different." Randy said taking the plate his mom made for him.

"So are you going to ask Stacy out this year?" Mrs. Orton asked being nosy.

"Mom!" Randy kind of shouted not wanting to wake up his father who didn't get home until late the other night.

"What, I like Stacy. She's so…well, she's herself." Mrs. Orton smiled knowing full well that her son liked the leggy blonde.

"That's it, I'm taking my breakfast upstairs to get ready to go." Randy said taking the plate of food upstairs.

Randy walked into his room thinking about what his mom said about Stacy. He liked Stacy, but she was one of his best friends. He didn't want to lose that. After he put on his t-shirt his father walked in.

"I heard that your mom was trying to get you to ask out Stacy." Mr. Orton said with a smile, he also liked Stacy.

"Yeah, well, it's not going to happen." Randy said as he took a bite of his hash browns.

"Well, why no?" Randy's father asked.

"Dad, you're just like mom, wanting me to go out with Stacy. If I wanted to go out with Stacy I would." Randy stated.

"Okay, I get the picture." Mr. Orton said walking out his son's room with a smile on. "He'll ask her, when he is ready." He said to himself.

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Trish Stratus woke up to the smell of her father's cooking. She perked her nose up and smelled. She could smell that he was cooking eggs, bacon, and waffles.

Trish made her way out of bed, and stumbled into her bathroom. She turned on the shower and hopped in. Fifteen minutes later Trish got out of the shower. She went and got dressed.

She walked down the stairs to see her brother Calvin eating away. Also her dad reading the paper.

"Are you gonna save some for me?" Trish asked getting her 14 year old brother Calvin's attention.

"Um, nope." Calvin said shoving a fork full of eggs into his mouth.

"Hun, there is a plate of food in the microwave for you." Mr. Stratus said putting the paper down. 

"Thanks dad." Trish said walking to the microwave to get her food.

"How are my newly freshman and senior doing this morning?" Mrs. Stratus asked.

"Just fine, even though Calvin ate all the food dad made." Trish said sitting next to her brother.

"Trish, loving sister of mine, you don't need all of this food." Calvin said sweetly.

"Why don't I need all of this food?" Trish asked putting her hands on her hips.

"Cause all the food goes to your hips." Calvin laughed falling out of his seat.

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Chris Jericho moved around feeling water spraying him. He opened his eyes to find out that he was in the shower.

He stood up quickly and shut off the water. He stepped out the shower. Chris wrapped a towel around his waist, and walked into his room.

He looked at his alarm clock. It read seven in the morning. Chris shook his head, and hurriedly got dressed thinking he was going to be late for school.

When he ran down stairs, he noticed that everyone was still sleeping. He walked into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of milk and looked at the clock on the stove to see how much time he had left. It read six in the morning.

Chris thought for a minute. He ran upstairs bumping into his sister, Noelle.

"Good morning to you too." Noelle said standing up rubbing her bottom.

"What time is it?" Chris asked.

"It's six in the morning." Noelle grinned knowing he got up early.

"Noe, you set my clock forward." Chris started. "Didn't you?"

"Maybe?" Noelle said running into her room and locking the door behind her.

"I'll get you Noelle." Chris said walking away.

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Stacy Keibler hopped out her bed when her alarm went off at six in the morning. She turned on her radio, which was playing 'Hotel' by Cassidy. She danced around for a minute in her bra and panties. Soon she went and took a shower.

Stacy was so happy that school was starting again. She couldn't wait to see her friends. Even though she just saw her friends yesterday.

Stacy ran down stairs and slid across the floor in her socks. She slid right pass her father and mother.

"Stacy calm down." Mrs. Keibler said pulling out a chair to sit down.

"I can't calm down mom." Stacy began. "It's the first day of school."

"So, are you walking with Steph and Trish?" Mr. Keibler asked from the table.

"No, I'm walking with the guys." Stacy said thinking of someone.

"Okay, well, tell them I said hi." Mr. Keibler said taking a drink of his coffee.

"I'll be sure to do that." Stacy said taking a muffin.

"Stacy, aren't you going to sit down and have some bacon and eggs?" Mrs. Keibler asked.

"Can't mom, I'm too excited." Stacy said running up the stairs.

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Paul Levesque rolled over expecting to still be sleeping, but he rolled onto the floor. After hitting the floor he sat up and looked at his bed. He saw his little sister Kendal. She was only three years old and much attached to Paul.

"What are you doing in my bed?" Paul asked sitting on his bed.

"I had a bad dream." She said holding onto Paul.

Kendal was very clingy towards Paul. Paul was her only brother and also her favorite sibling. She still loved their older sister Lynn though.

"Okay, let me get this straight." Paul started. "You had a bad dream and came into my room and slept in here."

"Yes." Kendal said still holding on to her brother.

"All right. Let's put you back to bed." Paul stated. "It's too early for you to be up."

Paul picked up his baby sister and carried her to her room. He laid her down and kissed her on the forehead before he left the room. Shutting the door behind him.

He walked back to his room to get dressed. Paul had gotten his jeans on when the phone rang. Paul walked over to his phone by his bed and answered it.

"Hello?" Paul asked.

"Hi Paul, this is Steph." She answered.

"Oh, hey Steph. How are you?" He asked putting his socks on.

"I'm good, and you?" Steph asked pulling her tennis shoes on.

"Same here. So, why did you call?" Paul answered with another question.

"Yeah, I was wondering where we were meeting." Steph replied.

"I really don't know." Paul said thinking of where to meet.

"Okay, well, then how about we all meet at the bleachers on the football field." She suggested.

"Yeah, that's good I'll let the guys and Stacy know." Paul said.

"And I'll let Trish know." Steph smiled.

"Well, I got to go. Get finished getting ready." Paul said.

"Okay, see you later." Steph smiled then hung up.

Paul hung the phone up and smiled. This was going to be a great year.

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That's it for this chapter. What did you think of it? Please review.

  
~Citcat~


	2. Walking To School

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 2: Walking to School 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea of the story and any names you don't recognize as a wrestler's name.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the story it means a lot. Also Shane and Steph are twins in this story.

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Randy walked out of his house making sure the door was closed all the way. He walked down the steps of his porch and out the gate. Randy continued his way across the street to Stacy's house seeing that it was the closest to his house. Next would be Chris' house, then Paul's.

He walked up the steps to her front door, because Stacy hadn't come out yet. He smoothed back his hair then knocked on the door. He waits a few minutes before Stacy's father opened the door.

"Good morning Randy." Mr. Keibler greeted Randy.

"Hi, um, is Stacy ready yet?" Randy asked walking in the house.

"She'll be down in a minute." Stacy's father replied. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No thanks, I already ate and I'm not thirsty." Randy answered.

"At least you ate." Mr. Keibler said with a laugh.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Randy asked wondering why Mr. Keibler had said that.

"Stacy, she wouldn't eat anything this morning." Mr. Keibler said leaning against the wall.

"Well, that's Stacy for you on the first day of school." Randy chuckled.

After that was said Stacy came running down the stairs, and because Randy's back was facing the stair case, she ran and jumped on his back. She caught him a little off guard but he kept his balance and didn't drop Stacy.

"She's been like that all morning long." Mr. Keibler said giving his daughter a kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you when you get home."

"Love you dad." Stacy said then looked at Randy. "Come on, into the kitchen please."

Randy carried Stacy on his back into the kitchen. He walked over to where Mrs. Keibler was laughing at the site of Randy and Stacy. Stacy got off of Randy's back and gave her mom a hug goodbye.

"Love you mom." Stacy said getting a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you tonight when I get home from work." Mrs. Keibler said. "See you around Randy.

After the goodbyes were said Randy and Stacy walked out of the house and started heading to Chris' house. They got to Chris' house pretty quick since they raced to see who could reach Chris' door step first. Stacy won in the end. She smiled in victory as she raised her hand and knocked on the door. After a few minutes Noelle answered the door.

"Hi Randy." Noelle smiled at Randy. "Hi Stacy."

"Hey Noe, is Chris done getting himself all beautiful?" Stacy asked walking into the house.

"Yeah, he's in the living room sleeping." Noelle laughed.

"Why is he sleeping?" Randy asked.

"I set his alarm clock forward an hour, therefore he woke up at five in the morning." Noelle answered not taking her eyes of Randy which Stacy noticed.

"Well, I'm going to go wake him up." Stacy said walking into the living room leaving Randy and Noelle at the door.

Stacy smiled seeing Chris sleeping on the couch. She walked over and sat down next to Chris. He was sound asleep. She smiled, putting her hands close to Chris' ear and clapped them really hard. That woke Chris up right away.

"I'm up, I'm up." Chris said looking around the room seeing Stacy sitting there laughing. "That wasn't funny Stace."

"Yeah it was." Randy said coming into the living room with Noelle following behind him.

"Come on Chris we got to go." Stacy said picking up his book bag for him. "Or we will be late."

Chris grabbed his book bag from Stacy and said goodbye to his sister along with Stacy and Randy. After that they walked out the house heading towards Paul's house. Paul's house was only three houses from Chris' house. They all talked while they walked to Paul's house.

"This is our last year." Chris stated. "Hooray."

"Yeah, thank God." Randy said kicking a rock that was on the ground.

"Soon we will all be free from teachers, principles, detentions, report cards, and school work." Stacy said running ahead and spinning in circles. "So, Chris does your sister have a boyfriend?" 

"No, why?" Chris asked obviously curious about what Stacy had to say.

"Oh okay." Stacy started. "She likes Randy." 

"What?!" Randy and Chris said at the same time.

"Yep, I noticed it this morning and judging on the way she was acting she has liked Randy for a while." Stacy said running up to Paul's front door.

"She has to be joking." Chris said laughing a little.

"What if she's not?" Randy asked, as they both looked up at Stacy who had just knocked on the door.

Stacy knocked on the door and tapped her foot waiting for the door to open. She waited for a good two minutes before Paul answered the door. He held up one finger then walked back inside. Stacy peeked her head inside the door and saw Paul saying goodbye to his parents and Kendal. Kendal looked up from her highchair and saw Stacy. She smiled and waved at her.

"Hi Stacy." Kendal said happily.

Paul turned around and saw Stacy quickly pull her head back around the door. He laughed at that. He turned to Kendal and gave her a hug before leaving. He walked over to the door. He opened it more and walked out closing the door behind him. When he looked up he saw Stacy on Randy's back and Chris sitting there laughing. Paul walked over.

"What's so funny?" Paul asked.

"My sister likes Randy." Chris laughed harder.

"It's not that funny Chris." Randy said starting to walk off with Stacy on his back.

"Hey wait up Randy." Chris said running up to him and Stacy.

"So, Noelle likes you Randy?" Paul questioned chuckling.

"Shut it Paul." Randy said causing the other two to laugh.

"Okay, drop the subject." Chris said changing topics. "So, did anyone find out where we are supposed to be meeting?"

"Actually, Steph called me up this morning and told me that we were meeting at the bleachers on the football field." Paul said as they all crossed the street.

"Why did she call you?" Stacy asked wondering why Steph didn't call her.

"She wanted to know if we had already decided on a place to meet." Paul answered.

"Yeah, why couldn't see call Stacy, Chris, or me?" Randy asked.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask her." Paul answered wondering why they were making this such a big deal.

"It's alright Paul, we're just playing with you." Chris said seeing the look of worry on his face.

Chris, Paul, Randy and Stacy made it to Greenwich High School ten minutes after making it to Paul's house. Stacy jumped off of Randy's back. All four of them looked at the school grounds full of kids. They all looked at each other than took one step forward and they were on the school's property. They had just began their first day at Greenwich High

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"Come on Calvin." Trish yelled for the fifth time. "If you want to walk with Steph and me you need to hurry up."

"I'm coming." Calvin said running down the stairs.

"Are you ready? Do you have everything because we are not coming back if you forgot something?" Trish said opening the door to leave already had said her goodbyes.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Calvin said walking out the door.

"I shouldn't even be letting you walk with us after what you said to me." Trish said closing and locking the door behind her.

"What did he say?" Stephanie asked walking up to Trish and Calvin.

"He said that I didn't need to eat that much because it all would go to my hips." Trish said slapping Calvin up side his bed for laughing again.

"Trish, you have to admit, it was kind of funny." Steph said laughing.

"Well, you don't live with him now do you?" Trish said as they started walking.

"Actually I would like to live with him than Shane right now." Steph responded.

"Why?" Calvin asked walking on then other side of Trish.

"I woke up this morning drenched in cold water." Stephanie said shaking her head.

"Now I would have loved to see that." Calvin laughed.

"He did it again?" Trish asked laughing.

"Yes, he did." Steph said.

"By the way, where is Shane?" Calvin asked wondering where Shane was.

"He is walking with Marissa." Steph said. "Oh yeah, Trish we are meeting everyone at the bleachers on the football field.

"Alright, when did you find this out?" Trish asked as they walked across the street.

"I bet she found it out from Paul." Calvin said in a way Steph would talk about someone she liked.

"Calvin." Trish shouted hitting him in the arm.

"I'm just telling it like it is." Calvin rubbed his arm.

"Well, I didn't find out from Paul." Steph said in a mater of fact tone. "I told him that we were meeting there."

"Told you." Calvin said running ahead to avoid getting hit.

"Calvin, shut up." Steph said turning a very light pink though no one noticed.

Calvin, Steph, and Trish continued to walk and talk. It was about maybe three minutes after there conversation about where Trish and Steph were meeting the others Trish and Steph's names were being called.

"Hey Trish, Steph, wait up." Gail Kim yelled.

All three of them stopped and waited until Gail caught up with them. Gail wasn't in their little group of best friends, but she was a close friend of Stacy, Trish, and Steph's.

"Good morning Gail." Steph and Trish said at the same time.

"Good morning Steph and Trish." Gail said noticing Trish's brother. "Good morning Calvin."

"Hi Gail." Calvin blushed a little which only Trish noticed and laughed.

"What's funny?" Gail, Calvin, and Steph said in union.

"Nothing, I just have a bad case of the giggles right now." Trish still laughed.

Calvin, Steph, Gail, and Trish all began walking again to Greenwich High School. It took them about another ten minutes to get to school grounds. They all stopped and looked at all the teens scattered around the school. Trish shook her head.

"This is going to be one hell of a year." Trish said as they all walked onto Greenwich High School's grounds.

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I hope you all liked this chapter. Please review. Also I am looking for graduation songs for the end of this story. If you know of a good one, please let me know by e-mail or reviewing.

~Citcat~


	3. Homeroom

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 3: Homeroom

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea of the story and any names you don't recognize as a wrestler's name.

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Stephanie and Trish made there way over to the bleachers after they made sure Calvin found one of his friends and Gail left. They talked a little until they reached the bleachers. Trish and Steph smiled as they walked up unnoticed to the other four. They saw Chris and Paul sitting at the top of the bleachers and Randy sitting one below them. On the same row as Randy Stacy was sitting on Randy's lap. They flirt a lot but they don't go out with each other.

"Hi you guys." Trish and Steph said as they walked up to them.

"TRISH STEPH!" Stacy said excitedly and jumped off of Randy's lap.

"STACY!" Steph and Trish copied Stacy.

"I missed you guys sooo much." Stacy exclaimed happily. 

"Stace you just saw them yesterday." Chris said laughing at how Stacy was acting.

Stacy was always the one to make everyone laugh. It wasn't hard and it wasn't easy, all she does is be herself to make everyone laugh. Even though the rest of them are always themselves Stacy is more of the funny one. She sometimes thinks it's because she is blonde.

"Well, sorry Chris, I have feelings and I miss my friends everyday." Stacy laughed as she hopped back up the bleachers.

"Correction Stacy, you miss your friends every second your not with them." Paul said causing everyone to laugh.

"Ha ha, you're funny." Stacy said play slapping Paul in the arm.

"So, can you believe that this is our last year, and then we will be out of school?" Randy said clapping his hands.

"I can't wait till graduation comes." Trish said as she sat down next to Randy.

"Well, some of us, as in me, are going to college." Stacy said proudly.

"Another four years of school." Steph said shaking her head. "Once I'm out of school I'm staying out."

"I agree with that." Paul said rising his hand in the air.

"Don't we all, but Stacy." Chris responded. 

"Well, I was thinking about going to college." Trish spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm not alone." Stacy said walking down the bleachers to give Trish a hug.

"Do any of you know what you want to do when we are out of high school, as in career?" Paul asked causing everyone to think.

They all sat there in silence thinking of what Paul had just asked. All six of them had thought of it before when they were younger and didn't really pay any mind to it through out high school. Now it was there last year and they had no clue what they wanted to do. I mean when they were eight and nine years old they knew what they wanted to be. 

For example Randy wanted to be an astronaut. He loved space ships and space. Also he wanted to go out in space and see the moon and the stars up close. It was his dream, then he started getting older and that dream started to not interest him anymore.

Then there was Stacy who wanted to be a singer. Whatever she wanted to say, she said it in a singing voice. She would sing everywhere, in the bathtub, in the car, in her room, in the store, even in the library although she was warned about it. Same thing happened to Stacy that happened to Randy. Singing stopped interesting her as a career.

Now, Paul wanted to be an artist when he was about ten. He knew how to draw really well. Everyone thought that he was a great artist. Paul loved the complements he got, but in the end drawing became uninteresting.

Stephanie wanted to be an actress. She would always reenact scenes from a movie and add in her own ideas to her parents. Also, she would make her brother help her with some of it. She was in a school play which she won the lead role. She had been in plays until she turned twelve and acting became boring.

Chris wanted to be in a band. He had the name picked out and new exactly what he wanted to play. The electric guitar. Chris would run around the house making a beat on everything. He would beat pots and pans together, stomp on the ground, jump on the bed, slamming the door, and just anything that would give off a beat. Soon that also became boring.

Lastly but not least Trish wanted to be a hair dresser. She was always doing her mother's hair. Sometimes she would do her father's and brother's, but she liked doing girls' hair the best. She would always do her friend's hair when she or they stayed the night. As Trish grew older she stopped doing hair because it was beginning to be boring an unexciting.

"Paul has a point." Randy said after he was done thinking.

"Yeah, I can't think of what I want to be." Steph said still slightly thinking.

"Well, when it comes to it, we'll know what we want to do." Chris said uneasily.

"Yeah, I agree." Trish said the same way.

"How about we go find out what homeroom we're in?" Stacy said hopping down the bleachers onto the grass.

"Yeah, let's go do that." Paul agreed as they all got up and headed to the school building.

They all walked over to the school building and on the outside there was a list of names. Trish didn't worry about her brother because all 9th graders were to meet in the cafeteria. All six of them looked on the list for their respective homeroom.

"I have Mrs. Byrum." Steph said happy that she got her favorite teacher as her homeroom teacher.

"Shit, I have Mr. Johnson." Chris said unhappily. Everyone hated Mr. Johnson.

"Looks like I have Ms. Kelso." Stacy said as she stepped aside to lean on the railing.

"I have Ms. Kelso too." Trish said as she went to stand next to Stacy.

"Great, someone to help me cause some trouble." Stacy smirked.

"Are you still upset about how she got you suspended?" Trish asked crossing her arms.

"Yeah, she still is." Randy smiled at her which he got the finger in return.

"Well, lucky for you Steph, I have Mrs. Byrum too." Randy said walking over too Steph.

"This is the first year one of us is in the same homeroom as one of us." Steph said hoping they all understood her.

"Steph, Randy, how about we be the three musketeers?" Paul asked walking over to everyone else.

"Why?" Randy and Steph said at the same time.

"Because, I have Mrs. Byrum too." Paul smiled getting a smile in return from Steph.

"Why am I the only one who doesn't have one of you in my homeroom?" Chris asked joking around.

"Sorry you don't have any of us, but look on the bright side you have Joanie in your class." Stacy laughed making everyone else laugh.

"This is just great, you all get stuck with one another and I get stuck with the man beast." Chris pouted jokingly.

"Come on Chris, Joanie likes you." Trish said knowing full well Joanie didn't have a chance with Chris unlike herself.

"Yeah, she has liked you since we were in fifth grade." Steph smiled. 

"Well, that's how it's going to stay." Chris said putting an arm on each of Trish and Steph's shoulder.

"Why don't you tell her that?" Stacy said pointing to Joanie who was walking over. "Here she comes." 

Joanie walked over to the group of six and smiled at Chris, who in return gave her a fake smile.

"Hi Chris." Joanie smiled brightly.

"Yeah, hey." Chris said hopping she would leave in a minute.

"Well, looks like we have the same homeroom Chris." Joanie Laurer said before frowning. "And it's Mr. Johnson."

"Yeah, I know, I hate him." Chris said politely.

"So do I, looks like we have something in common." Joanie beamed.

"Yeah, I guess we do." Chris said as he looked around and noticed his friends left him. "They did not just do that to me." He mumbled.

"What did you say?" Joanie asked walking closer to him.

"Oh, nothing, but I have to go, so I'll see you in homeroom." Chris said leaving Joanie there waving him goodbye.

Chris walked around looking for one of his friends. He couldn't believe they left him like that. He wasn't mad at them though, that was just how they were when Joanie came around them. He kept walking in search of his friends.

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Stephanie turned around as she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned around she found Kurt Angle standing behind her. She cursed to herself knowing that he still had a crush on her. Kurt was one of the nerds and she just couldn't picture herself going out with him.

"Hi Kurt." Steph smiled at him sweetly.

"Hi Steph, um, these are for you." Kurt said handing her the flowers.

"Thanks Kurt, what are these for?" Stephanie asked politely.

"They are a welcome back present." Kurt smiled at her.

"Well, thanks, they are pretty." Stephanie said smelling the pink carnations.

"I was hoping you'd like them." Kurt said blushing a little.

"Well, I'll see you around then Kurt." Stephanie said leaving him starring after her.

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Randy sat on the bench looking around waiting for one of his friends to pop out of no where. He started to whistle and hum to himself, when all of a sudden he felt a pat on his back. He turned around to see Terri Runnels standing there smiling at him.

"Uh, hi Terri." Randy said scooting over some.

"Hello Randy." Terri said sitting next to him

"So, how have you been?" Randy asked feeling a little tense.

"I've been alright, or do you mean how have I been from the break up?" Terri asked her ex-boyfriend.

"Well, both actually." Randy said with a small smile.

"I've been good, I haven't started dating again though, but I'm working on it." She said looking at the other people walking around. "What about you?"

"Same I guess." Randy said thinking of Stacy.

"You mean to tell me, that a guy like you hasn't gone out on a date for six months." Terri asked surprised.

"Hey, you were hard to get over." They both laughed.

"Well, I gotta go, see you around some time?" Terri said leaving but waiting for an answer.

"Yeah." Randy smiled at her as she left. 

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Stacy skipped down the back way path of the school searching for one of the gang. She shook her head from side to side while whistling and skipping. She passed a couple of teachers who smiled at her and she smiled back. She shut her eyes and continued to skip down the path way. While doing this she bumped into Andrew Test, the person who had a crush on her for a long while. He smiled at her.

"Hello Stacy" Andrew said pulling his football jacket closer to him.

"Hi" Stacy smiled sweetly.

"What's up?" He asked stepping closer to her.

"Nothing really." She said taking a step back.

"Anything new?" Andrew questioned again.

"Like what?" She asked taking another step back, personally she didn't like Andrew.

"Like a boyfriend?" Andrew smirked hoping for an answer of no.

"Well, actually, I….do." Stacy said lying. 

"Who is it?" He asked angrily.

"Randy." She said quickly. "Randy Orton."

~*~*~*~*~

Paul leaned against the school building looking around at everyone walking, talking, and laughing. He smiled at the people then shut his eyes thinking. He hadn't been out on a date for a couple of months. He was thinking of asking her out this year, finally letting her know how he felt. He opened his eyes when he heard someone walk up. He saw his ex-girlfriend Jackie Gayda.

"What do you want Jackie?" Paul asked the woman who played him last year.

"I came to let you know that I'm sorry." Jackie said, she always had a way of thinking things would be better if you just said sorry.

"Ok, bye." Paul said starting to walk away, realizing she was following him. "What?"

"I wanted to know if we could still be friends, I really miss talking and hanging out with you." Jackie said with a sad smile.

"Jackie, I don't need you to be my friend, and I know damn well you don't need me to be your friend." Paul said continuing to walk.

"Please, I just want to be your friend." She pleaded.

"Bye Jackie." Paul said turning a corner and leaving Jackie by herself.

~*~*~*~*~

Jeff Hardy walked up behind Trish who was looking for Stacy and/or Chris. He smiled as she stopped walking and looked around. He put his hands in front of her eyes.

"Guess who." Jeff said with a smile.

Trish pulled away knowing full well who it was. She turned and faced her ex-boyfriend. She couldn't believe he still had the nerve to call her and talk to her like they used to when they were friends and went out.

"What do you want Jeff?" Trish said faking a quick smile.

"What's with the attitude babe? I thought you'd be happy to see me." Jeff said smiling at her.

"What do you want Jeff?" She asked again getting annoyed.

"Fine, I wanted to know if we could start things fresh again?" Jeff asked. "I want to go back to how the way things were last year." 

Trish's mouth dropped in surprise.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So, did you all like this chapter? Sorry it took a while to get up. Please review and tell me if I should continue, because I haven't really been getting any reviews for this story.

~Citcat~


	4. Questions & Answers

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 4: Questions & Answers 

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the characters you don't recognize and the story idea.

Trish stood there frozen. She couldn't believe he was asking her this. Trish was feeling a mixture of everything at the moment. She didn't know what to say, she was in so much shock. It was quiet for a couple minutes until Jeff spoke up again.

"Uh, what do you say Trish?" Jeff said with a smile.

"Jeff, go to hell." Trish said as emotions ran threw her. "I would never take you back after what you did to me."

"Come on Trish, I had to." Jeff said trying to grab her hand. "You said you were alright with it."

"I never said that, why would I say that if you broke up with me because your friends didn't like me?" She questioned with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, wait, Lisa said that." Jeff said shutting his mouth quickly.

"So, it wasn't your friends." Trish said as anger filled her again. "You dumped me for Lisa."

"Come on, that's the past." Jeff said trying to keep from saying something he would regret again. "This is the future."

"Alright, that was the past." Trish said as she quickly made up a lie in her head then told Jeff. "Now the future is me and Chris"

"What do you mean you and Chris?" Jeff asked as he was now aware that Ms. Stratus might have a someone.

"I mean Chris and me…" She stopped again. "Chris and I are dating."

"Chris who?" Jeff asked wanting to know which Chris he was going to kill this year.

"Jericho." Trish said with a some what of a smile.

"Oh, well, see ya." Jeff said leaving Trish by herself wondering what she was going to tell Chris about them 'dating'.

Randy walked around still looking for one of his friends. As he turned a corner Stacy literally ran into him. She looked up and realized who she had run into. With out thinking she leaned up and kissed Randy. Randy was a little shocked, but gave into it. Right as Stacy kissed Randy, Test had walked around the corner and seen the two kiss. He slowly backed up and left pissed off. As soon as Test left Stacy pulled away and smiled at Randy.

"Sorry about that." She said with a small grin. "I had to."

"No problem, but why'd you do it?" Randy asked also with a small grin.

"Well, don't hate me for this but." Stacy was cut off by Randy.

"Stace, I could never hate you." Randy smiled at her. "Now why?"

"Well, I told Test, that you are." She paused for a minute. "That you are my boyfriend."

"You told him, that I'm your boyfriend?" Randy questioned confused even though he liked the thought of being her boyfriend.

"Yeah, I did." Stacy said sadly. "Don't hate me for it."

"Stacy, what did I tell you?" Randy said giving her a hug.

"That you could never hate me." Stacy giggled as they both walked around with their arms linked around each other.

"That's right, now I guess we'll have to act like we're going out." Randy said as a small frown came to his face.

"Yeah, unless you don't want to." Stacy stated. "I mean, I can say we broke up."

"No, no you don't have to say that." Randy said rather quickly.

"Ok, then it's set, we'll act as if we are boyfriend and girlfriend." Stacy smiled up at Randy.

"Yeah, well, Stace, seeing that this is a new year and everything." Randy started. "Also, seeing that you already told Test and we are pretending to go out, maybe we could actually go out some time."

Stacy stopped walking and looked up at Randy, as he waited for an answer.

Stephanie carried the carnations around school campus with her. She kept thinking about how sweet Kurt was, but he wasn't who she had her eye on. A smile came onto her face as she thought about him. She was going to do it this year, she was going to ask him out.

She had liked him for a couple of years now, though she never got around to telling him. Steph never told him because she was afraid of losing their friendship if things didn't turn out right or he rejected her. As she walked inside the building when the bell rang Paul caught up to her.

"Hey there Stephie." Paul said wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Hey there Paulie." She smirked, as she knew he hated being called that.

"What did I tell you about that?" Paul asked with a smile as they turned the corner heading for their homeroom.

"I know, I remember exactly what you said." She said, and then mimicked him. "You said 'Don't you ever, ever, call me that again, or I'll have to kill you."

"Yeah, don't let me catch you using it again." Paul laughed.

"Paul, you know I called you Paulie, right?" Steph asked as another smirk came to her face.

"Yeah, why?" Paul asked as they walked into their homeroom.

"Well, I'm still breathing." Steph laughed as Paul joined in with her.

"Yeah, well, that was a warning, next time I will kill you." Paul joked as they sat down at a table.

Chris sighed as he walked to his homeroom. He really wanted one of his best friends in his class with him. Well, he was popular and had a lot of friends, but they weren't like his best friends. Chris walked through the door and was met by a wide smile of Mr. Johnson.

"Well, hello there Chris." Mr. Johnson said. "It's a pleasure to have you in my class again."

"No, the pleasure is all mine." Chris said walking in rolling his eyes.

Mr. Johnson turned his head as more students came in, Chris wasn't one of his personal favorites either. Chris sat down in the back of the class as Mr. Johnson had turned his head. He watched as more and more students came in. Some of his friends came in and said hi. Chris shut his eyes, and right after Joanie walked up.

"Hi Chris." Joanie said walking up to him with a smile on. "Can I sit here?"

Chris shot his eyes open as Joanie spoke. He saw her pointing to the seat next to him. Chris looked around him and saw the seats around him were all filled except for the one right on his left side. He panicked not wanting to be mean, but he didn't want to sit next to her.

"Sorry, I'm saving it for someone, they asked me to." Chris lied.

"Well, alright." Joanie frowned as she walked up to the front of the class and sat down.

Chris looked at the door and noticed no one was coming in. He looked at Joanie who also looked at the door. He started praying someone would walk through the door as Joanie stood up and started to make her way to the back again. As Joanie was only a couple steps away Adam, also known as Edge ran into class nearly taking Mr. Johnson out.

"Sorry, I'm late." Adam said flashing his bright smile at Mr. Johnson.

"Take a seat Mr. Copeland." Mr. Johnson said as he shut the door.

Chris looked at Adam who was about to sit where Joanie was sitting, then at Joanie who was only maybe one or two steps away. He quickly yelled out to Adam.

"Hey, man, back here." Chris yelled as Adam looked at him. "I saved ya a seat like you asked."

"Thanks man." Adam said as he made his way to the back.

Adam sat in the seat Joanie was about to sit in, and Joanie frowned and went back to her seat that was in the front of the class.

Please review and if you have any ideas for the story just let me know and I'll work them into the chapter.


	5. Lunch

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 5: Lunch

Disclaimer: I own only the names you don't recognize. All other names belong to Vince McMahon.

It was fourth period and the first day of school was going by rather quick. Slowly and at different times, the group of six friends gathered at their table they sat at since they were freshmen. First came Stacy and Randy all smiles.

"So, after all these years, you finally got enough courage to ask me out?" Stacy giggled as she sat down at the table.

"I wasn't afraid to ask you, I was just afraid that if I did ask you, and you rejected me things would be werid between us." Randy said sitting down by his now girlfriend.

"Yeah, yeah, it sucks that we only have to classes together." Stacy frowned.

"Yeah, I'd have to agree." Randy said as he took a bite of his sandwich.

A couple minutes later Chris walks up and sits with Stacy and Randy.

"Hey guys," Chris said, as Stacy cleared her throat on purpose. "And ladies."

"Thank you." Stacy said glowing.

"So, Stacy, who is it?" Chris asked knowingly that she had a boyfriend.

"I really don't know what you're talking about." Stacy said turning to Randy and she couldn't help but smile.

"Randy, you too. You seem too happy too." Chris said studying the two in front of him.

"Who wouldn't be happy, it's the first day of our last year." Randy said as Stacy slipped her hand into his under the table.

Chris just sat there for a moment trying to figure out why these two were so happy. He couldn't think of anything until Trish and Paul came over when he blurted it out.

"YOU TWO ARE GOING OUT?" Chris practicly yelled standing up from his seat.

"Who's going out?" Trish and Paul questioned at the same time, though Trish was thinking Chris might know what she told Jeff.

"Uh…" Randy sat there with a loss of words as Stacy sat there giggling no-stop.

"What's going on here?" Paul asked sitting down next to Chris.

"Yes, please tell." Trish said sitting on the other side of Chris.

"Alright, Randy, they are going to find out anyway." Stacy said as she stopped giggling.

"Fine, but wait till Steph gets here, I don't want to have to re-tell the 'whole' story again." Randy said giving Stacy a smile.

"Wait to say what?" Stephanie asked taking her seat next to Paul at the table.

"Go ahead Stace." Randy said as he could tell Stacy was dying to tell them.

"Randy and I are going out." Stacy said with so much energy she fell out her seat, which caused everyone to laugh.

"Are you alright babe?" Randy asked helping her back up into her chair.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stacy said with a huge smile.

"So, we all know how Stacy and Randy's first part of the day went, whose next?" Steph asked taking a sip of her soda.

"Well, Jackie tried to get back together with me." Paul said with a laugh. "As friends though."

"Friends my ass." Chris and Trish said at the same time.

"Yeah, I know, but other than that, my day has been perfect." Paul finished and smiled at Stephanie. "Next?"

"Well," Chris spoke up. "I listened to Stephanie talk all second period in gym."

"Like that's something new?" Stacy giggled as Stephanie play slapped her on the arm. "Hey, that hurt." Stacy said as she held her arm out to Randy, and he kissed it. "Thanks." Stacy smiled.

"Anyways, then in third period I talked to Trish the whole time." Chris finished.

"What about first period C.J?" Randy asked using Chris' initials as his nickname.

"Well, actually, that's what I wanted to ask you earliar Trish." Chris remembered. "Can I talk to you over there by the water fountain?"

"Uh, sure." Trish said following him over there.

"Wonder what they are talking about?" Stacy and Steph said.

"Nosy women." Paul laughed taking a bite of his pizza.

Trish stood by the water fountain just wondering, well, hoping he didn't ask her about her conversation with Jeff this morning.

"Trish, in first period, I over heard Jeff talking and he said we were going out." Chris said as he stopped to think about what else Jeff said. "He said he thinks your lying to him."

"Oh god, Chris, I…I did lie." Trish confessed. "If I said I was single he wouldn't leave me alone."

"So, people are going to start to think that we are seeing each other?" Chris questioned not showing any anger.

"Well, yeah, with Jeff's big ass mouth." Trish said biting her nails. "Are you mad?"

"No, I'm not mad." Chris said wondering if it would work. "Look, until Jeff stops bugging you, we'll pretend to go out around him."

"What?" Trish asked confused.

"I mean, when Jeff comes around us together, we'll act all couple like and stuff." Chris said as Trish gave him a hug.

"Thank you so much." Trish said while hugging him. "You don't know how much this means to me."

Stephanie and Paul sat at the table by themselves due to the fact that Trish and Chris were talking and because Stacy needed a 'soda' because Steph had one. Stephanie couldn't help herself but stare at Paul. He was so gorgeous in her mind. This was it, this was the perfect time. She took another sip of her soda, and was about to talk before he beat her to it.

"Steph, can I ask you something?" Paul questioned thinking about her.

"Sure." Steph replied smoothly.

"What do you think about Torrie?" Paul again questioned Steph.

"Wilson?!" Steph nearly choked on Torrie's last name.

"Yeah, I've liked her for some time now and I was thinking about asking her out this year." Paul said finally letting someone know who he liked.

"She's a go…good person." Steph said holding back tears.

"Now, honestly, do you think I have a shot with her?" Paul asked as he looked Steph in the eye.

What Stephanie really wanted to say was, "Yeah, you have a chance with her, but what good is she? I mean, you can have me instead, I'm way better. Paul I've loved you since forever." But that's not what she said.

"Yeah, I think you have a great chance with her." Steph said as tears burned her eyelids without falling. "You could have anyone at this school, if you wanted them."

"Thanks for the advice Steph." Paul said giving her a friendly hug.

"Yeah, that's what I'm here for." Steph said with a frown as he was hugging her.

"I wonder what he said." Stacy said as Randy and, well, mainly Stacy spied on Paul and Steph.

"Stacy, why are you spying?" Randy asked as he wrapped his arms around Stacy's waist.

"Steph has liked Paul since, what, sixth grade." Stacy blurted out covering her mouth.

"What? How did you know that?" Randy asked wanting details about his friend.

"I don't know, but I just know, and you know that's me." Stacy said as she frowned knowing things didn't go according to plan.

"Yeah, that is werid how you know things about people before they find out." Randy said with a small laugh.

"Come on, we need to get back over there." Stacy said heading back over to the table.

"Stace, why?" Randy asked following her.

"Steph's going to cry if someone doesn't get over there in a minute." Stacy said as Randy was now at her side rather than behind her.

So, what did you all think? Please review so I know whether to continue this story or not, and please, if you have any ideas, please let me know. I'm dealing with writers block at the time that is why this chapter took so long to get up.

Citcat


	6. New Guy

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 6: New Guy

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the names you don't recognize as wrestler's or diva's names.

Special thanks go to CaitlinJ714, for a couple ideas for the story.

Before I get to the story I'd like to say thanks for reviewing to…HuntersGamexox, huntersgurl34, MutantXHottie, KrissyCat, huntersgirl, T-money1, paprica, and john-cenalover.

Thanks for all of your reviews and please, keeping them coming. Reviews make me want to write because I know there are people out there that like what I write.

Stacy walked up to the table casually and tapped Paul on the shoulder. Paul let go of the hug and looked at Stacy. Steph bit her lip as she also looked at Stacy and Randy who had just walked up next to Stacy.

"Paul, you think I could steal Steph away for a minute?" Stacy smiled at him.

"Why? I don't think I trust you with her." Paul said in a jokingly way.

"Well, I need to talk to her about some girly stuff." Stacy smiled grabing Steph's hand.

"What kind of girly stuff?" Paul asked. "Is about how much eye-liner or lip gloss to put on."

"No," Stacy laughed as Steph also let out a very small laugh. "It's about my Aunt Flow."

"Ewww!" Paul said covering his ears. "Take Steph, just please, don't talk about stuff like that around me."

Randy, Steph, and Stacy all laughed at Paul's response as Stacy and Steph left to the bathroom. After Stacy and Steph were gone Randy spoke.

"Paul, they're gone." Randy said as he set the soda down.

"Damn, why does Stacy have to be so open about everything?" Paul shook his head.

"I don't know, that's just her." Randy smiled as he thought about her.

"Well, at least I'm not the one dating her." Paul smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Randy asked not sure if he should take it offensively.

"I mean, Stacy is so open about everything, she'll tell everyone how caring you are." Paul asked as he laughed.

"She can't do that, that'll ruin my player image." Randy joined in laughing.

Stephanie and Stacy sat on the couch in the girl's bathroom, while Steph cried on Stacy's shoulder. She was so heartbroken, she kept questioning herself why, why her. Stacy rubbed her best friends back as she cried. She didn't like seeing her like this, she felt like she wanted to cry. She sat there in silence when Steph spoke up.

 "Why me Stace? Why did I have to get hurt?" Steph cried.

"Stephie, it's just the way love goes." Stacy sighed before responding.

"If this is how love goes, then how come you aren't crying?" Steph questioned. "How come Randy likes you the way you liked him since eighth grade and now?"

"Steph, you know this, love goes differently for different people." Stacy said upset that she couldn't help her friend.

"I guess your right." Steph sighed as she stood up and went to wash her face off from her tears.

"So, you're going to be ok?" Stacy said walking up to her

"Yeah, I will be." Steph smiled at Stacy.

"Good, now come on, I bet Randy already guzzled down my soda." Stacy said making Steph laugh.

Lunch is over and now a free period for everyone

Chris walked into the student's lounge and sat on the couch. He and a couple other fellow classmates were in there. This was a place were students could come when they had a free period or for lunch or after school. You could go in there pretty much any time you wanted as long as you weren't skipping class. Chris opened up a magazine and began to read it when Calvin, Trish's brother sat down next to him. Chris looked at him and smiled.

"Hey there buddy." Chris said as he turned a page in the magazine.

"Hey Chris." Calvin said as he checked out the student's lounge though he had already seen it today.

"So, how do you like your first day of high school?" Chris asked, he was always felt that Calvin was a brother to him, due to the fact that Calvin had become attached to Chris when Calvin was 10 and Chris was 14.

"It's great, made a lot of friends." Calvin answered as he saw Gail walk into the student lounge.

"That's good, so nobody is picking on you." Chris asked as he didn't get an answer. "Calvin?"

Chris looked over to where Calvin was staring and saw Gail sitting there sipping on a soda. Chris laughed and shook his head. He hit Calvin not to hard, but with enough force to knock him out his trance.

"What?" Calvin asked shaking his head and looking to Chris.

"Don't even try it." Chris laughed. "She's taken."

"What? Who?" Calvin asked wondering who Gail's boyfriend was.

"Man, she's going out with Batista." Chris said as Calvin stood up.

"Oh, well, I have to get to my next class." Calvin said walking off.

"See ya buddy." Chris smiled to himself picking his magazine up again.

"Bye Chris." Calvin said walking out the student's lounge

Trish walked down the hallway to the library after lunch. She felt some what happy for the fact that she was Chris' pretend girlfriend, though she did feel depressed that it was only pretend, and Chris didn't think of her that way. Trish sat down at a table and began to read over homework she had already gotten from Ms. Taylor in language arts, seeing that she had an hour until she had to go to her fifth period class which was P.E with Mr. Spice.

Trish couldn't concentrate on her homework. She couldn't stop thinking about Chris. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? Trish thought it was a little crush.

"It's just a crush isn't it?" Trish asked herself out loud.

She couldn't help but think that maybe just maybe that her crush had turned into something more, was she in love with Chris?

"No." Trish told herself. "It's just a crush."

After making that final to herself, she picked up her book and began to read when a male sat down across from her.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked Trish.

"Uh, no, it's not taken." Trish smiled politely at him.

"I'm new here are you?" He asked as he set his books down.

"Nope, I've been coming here since I was a freshman." Trish said as she took in his handsome figure. "I'm Trish Stratus." She introduced herself putting her hand out to him.

Grabing her hand and shaking her hand he spoke "I'm Brock Lesnar, it's nice to meet you Trish." Brock said as he was unaware that Ms. Stratus just developed a crush on him.

Please Review

Citcat


	7. The Day Is Over

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 7: The Day Is Over

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the names you don't recognize as wrestler's or diva's names.

As the bell rang, signaling that school was out kids ran from every direction, meeting up with friends and or brothers and or sisters and or other family members. Trish and Stacy walked out the school together because their last period was their first period like everyone else's. Trish and Stacy sat down on the bench while waiting for the other four and Trish and Stephanie's brothers.

"So, Stace how was your day?" Trish asked as Stacy sat there day-dreaming. "Hello"

"What?" Stacy asked snapping out of her dream.

"Stace, were you thinking about Randy again?" Trish smirked.

"Maybe, maybe not." Stacy blushed a light shade of pink. "What about you Miss Stratus?"

"What about me?" Trish asked as she glanced around the courtyard.

"How was your day, did you finally tell Mr. Chris Jericho you like him?" Stacy blurted out and covered her mouth as a couple seniors walked by that knew Chris and heard what Stacy had said.

"Stacy!?" Trish looked down to the ground turning a very dark red of embarrassment. "How did you know, I didn't tell anyone, not even Steph?"

"Uh, damn, I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut." Stacy said as she couldn't come up with a good answer for Trish.

"Stace, how do you know this stuff?" Trish asked as her face slowly returned to its normal color. "I mean I was talking to Steph in sixth period which was history and she told me that you knew who she liked and she didn't even tell you."

"Don't ask Trish, I really don't know why." Stacy said honestly. "Do you believe me?"

"Yeah, I have no reason not to believe you." Trish asked staring Stacy in the eye to see if she was lying and she wasn't.

"Uh, Trish, Brock is right behind you." Stacy said pointing to Brock, who she hasn't met yet.

"Hi Brock, what's up?" Trish asked turning to face him with a smile.

"Nothing much, but who is your friend?" Brock asked. "And how does she know me, I haven't met her yet?"

"I'm Stacy Keibler and I'm psycho." Stacy laughed shaking Brock's hand as he laughed with her. "I know a lot of things for unknown reasons."

"That proves why you know my name." Brock smiled then looked at Trish. "Uh, Trish I was wondering, maybe you could show me around today?"

"Sure," Trish said rather quickly. "I don't have anything planned."

"Cool, we can drop our stuff off and then you can show me around." Brock said.

"Ok, Stacy, can you tell the guys I'll talk to them later and tell Calvin to walk with you guys or a friend?" Trish asked starting to walk off with Brock.

"Sure, no problem." Stacy said with a smile.

"Thanks Stace." Trish said as her and Brock turned a corner.

Randy, Paul, and Stephanie sat in class after everyone had exited the class. They watched as Mrs. Byrum looked over some of the papers they had to write so she could get to know her students.

Now, they are all sitting in the front row with an empty desk in between each of them. They were being held after class until they finished their paper. The three of them had plenty of time to finish the paper, but instead they decided to goof around instead of doing the paper.

Randy and Paul kept throwing paper balls at each other when Mrs. Byrum wasn't looking and Steph fell asleep in class after staring at Paul for a couple of minutes. Randy and Paul had noticed Steph was sleeping so one at a time they stood up from their desk and walked up to the pencil sharpener, acting as if they had to sharpen their pencil. As they both walked back to their desk they drop their pencils on purpose. As they bent down to pick up their pencils they started to shake the desk legs to Steph's desk. She woke up screaming "Earthquake" over and over until she looked on the floor and seen Paul and Randy laughing hysterically. That's how they ended up having to stay after class.

"Are you three finished?" Mrs. Byrum asked as she looked up from her papers.

"Yeah" All three of them said in union.

"Good, now bring them here and you may leave." Mrs. Byrum said as they came up and sat their papers on her desk then left.

As they walked out Stephanie started to walk quickly, as to give them the impression that she was mad at them. It was quiet for a couple seconds until Stephanie spoke.

"You both are assholes." Stephanie said as she walked ahead of them.

"That was harsh Steph." Randy laughed.

"So, what you did to me was mean." Steph said still ahead of them.

"Come on Steph, it was funny." Paul said as he walked quicker reaching her side.

"Steph, you have to admit it was funny." Randy said also catching up.

"No, it wasn't funny, it was embarrassing." Steph said as what happened earliar re-played in her head.

"Sorry, I won't do it again." Randy said.

"Aww, Stephie I'm sorry." Paul said as he gave Stephanie a hug in the hallway.

"Big hug." Randy said wrapping his arms around both of them.

"All better Stephie?" Paul asked as they all pulled apart.

"Yeah, all better I guess." Stephanie sighed.

"Are you sure?" Randy asked.

"Yeah, just don't do it again." Stephanie said with a small smile.

"All righty then." Paul said as he put his arm around Steph's shoulder.

"Let's go find the others." Randy said putting his arm around Steph's shoulder too.

"Then home sweet home." Steph smiled as they walked outside the school.

Chris nearly ran out of the classroom when the bell rang. He really wanted to get out of this class and hang out with his friends. As he walked out of class he nearly ran over Shane McMahon, Stephanie's twin brother.

"Hey, sorry man." Chris said as he helped Shane up. "I didn't see you there."

"Yeah, it's alright." Shane said as he looked down the hall. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what do you need me to do?" Chris asked as he leaned against the lockers.

"Tell, Steph to tell our parents that I went to Marissa's." Shane said as he saw Marissa coming towards them.

"Sure Shane." Chris said as Marissa reached them.

"Hi Chris, how are you?" Marissa smiled sweetly.

"I'm good, but I have to get going." Chris smiled walking off. "Talk to you two later."

Chris continued down the hall until he heard his name being called. He turned around and saw Calvin yelling for him. Stopping and turning around Chris waited for Calvin to catch up to him.

"Hey Chris." Calvin said as they continued to walk.

"Hey Calvin, looks like you made it through your first day of high school." Chris laughed.

"Yeah, you were right, it isn't as bad as it seems." Calvin said as they turned a corner.

"See, always listen to me, I'm always right." Chris joked around shoving Calvin in a playful way.

"Are you sure about that?" Calvin asked as if he might know something.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Chris said as he eyed Calvin. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious, that's all." Calvin finished as he seen Stacy come up to them when they walked outside.

"Hi Stacy." Calvin said as they stopped walking.

"Where is everyone?" Chris asked looking around for the others.

"Well, first of all I don't know where Steph, Paul and Randy are." Stacy started. "And Trish left with the new guy Brock, who is kinda cute." Stacy smiled.

"Brock Lesnar?" Calvin asked with excitement.

"Yeah, why do you know him?" Stacy asked the 14 year old.

"Yeah, he is cool. I met him today in the hallway." Calvin started. "He ran into me and we started talking, and now he is my friend."

"I don't think I've met this Brock Lesnar." Chris said as if he was an older brother.

"Well, he only the coolest guy I've met." Calvin said when something popped into his head. "That would be so cool if he started dating my sister. Then I could hang out with him all the time."

"Oh yeah, Calvin, Trish said you can walk home with us or a friend." Stacy said with a smile.

"Alright, I'm going to go walk with my friends, I'll talk to you guys later." Calvin said walking away.

"So, Stacy what can you tell me about this Brock guy?" Chris asked wanting to know who was hanging out with his buddy Calvin and his best friend Trish.

"Oh, he's going to be involved with all of us for a while." Stacy said shaking her head up and down slowly.

That's it for this chapter. Please review and ideas are still welcome.

Citcat


	8. Fast Forward

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 8: Fast forward (3 weeks later)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the names you don't recognize as a superstar's name and the idea for this story.

It was first period homeroom, and Paul and Randy were goofing off again as they had been since the beginning of the year, though they toned it down a little. Right now they were playing paper football.

Stephanie sighed as she watched Paul from a distance as she worked and talked with her friend Gail. She giggled as the paper football hit Paul in the head. Making up her mind, she decided to get back to work and stop watching Paul.

"So, Steph what's with you and Paul?" Gail asked as she noticed Steph had been staring at him while she was talking to her.

"What are you talking about?" Stephanie asked wondering why she would ask her that.

"Come on Steph, you've been staring at him the whole time I've been talking to you." Gail stated. "Also, when you two are around each other your not as happy as you were like last year or this last summer."

"Gail, it's nothing, ok?" Steph said not wanting to talk about this topic.

"Alright, but if you do want to talk, I'm here to listen." Gail said as the two got back to their partner assignment.

"Come on we really need to get this work done?" Randy said as he flicked the paper football to Paul.

"Yeah, I know." Paul said as Randy scored.

"Ok, after I make this next goal we'll get this work done." Paul said as he flicked the paper football making the goal. "SCORE"

"Mr. Levesque and Mr. Orton!" Mrs. Byrum raised her voice a little.

"Sorry, I answered the question right and I got over excited." Paul lied with a smile.

"Alright, but keep it down." Mrs. Byrum said as she went back to grading papers.

Paul and Randy started laughing quietly as they started their work. As they worked, Paul felt that eyes on him. So he causally looked behind him to see that Stephanie had just looked away. He shook his head and went back to work thinking that it was nothing.

Trish smiled as she pulled a note out of her binder. She looked at it reading the outside of the note. Her hands held the letter tightly, yet not as tight as to where the letter would crinkle.

"Who's that from?" Stacy asked as she looked at Trish.

"It's from Brock." Trish smiled as she said his name.

"Does someone have a boyfriend?" Stacy asked smiling.

Before Trish could answer her she thought about the note and Brock. They had hit it off from the day they met. Recently that's all she ever thought about was Brock. So, if he were to ask her out, of course she would say yes. The thing Trish forgot about the most was Jeff Hardy, even though he had been bugging her for a while.

"No I don't have a boyfriend." Trish said as she opened the letter.

"Sure." Stacy rolled her eyes as she started doing something.

Trish smiled as she read the letter. This is what she read.

_Trish,_

_Hey how are you? I'm good. Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for helping me out around here and showing me everything around town. You're a really great person. Your probably wondering what I'm getting at this, so I'm just gonna let you know. I know it's not personal, but I couldn't tell you to your face. So here I go. Trish, would you like to go out with me sometime? There I said it and I'll understand if you don't want to._

_Your friend,_

_Brock._

Adam yawned as the movie in history class ended. He tried so hard not to fall asleep. As he looked top his left he say Chris fast asleep. He laughed as he started to poke him to wake him up. After a couple times poking him Chris woke up still half asleep.

"Chris wake up man." Adam said as Chris sat up.

"Ok, mom, I'm going, I'm going." Chris babbled as he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Adam laughed at Chris' nonsense.

"To school." Chris said as people started looking at him as he walked passed everyone and out the door.

"I wonder how far he'll go before he realizes where he is." Adam laughed.

Mr. Johnson had been messing with the VCR when Chris walked out therefore he didn't see Chris leave. As Chris walked down the hall he bumped into the principal. Chris shook his head after bumping into the principal Mrs. Heartman. He now realized what he had done and this wasn't the first time either.

"Well, Mr. Jericho, it seems you've happened to walk out your class again." Mrs. Heartman said.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Heartman." Chris said sincerely.

"Sure Jericho, come on, I know what you can do this time." Mrs. Heartman said as Chris followed behind.

"What do I have to do?" Chris whined.

"Announcements." Mrs. Heartman said handing him the list.

"No way" Chris said as he put the paper down.

"Shall we call your parents and let them know this is the 5th time you've fell asleep in class.?" Mrs. Heartman said raising an eye brow.

"No, I'll do it." Chris said as he looked over the paper.

"Good, now go do it." Mrs. Heartman said pointing him in the direction to go.

Chris walked into the little room where the announcements were to be spoken to the whole school. He put on the head phones and turned the intercom on. He smirked as he was going to put his own two cents in about the announcements.

"Hello Greenwich High, this is Chris Jericho giving you your announcements today." Chris said as he read over the first announcement. "Now first off we have our football team playing against Roosevelt. We all know who's gonna win this one, because we know damn well Roosevelt can't play for nothing." Chris laughed.

Stephanie rolled her eyes as she heard Jericho talking on the intercom, but he made her smile. Randy and Paul laughed as they both knew that Jericho had gotten in trouble again. He was the main one to get in trouble out of the six friends. Stacy giggled when she heard Jericho putting in his two cents after each announcement he read. Trish smiled at the sound of Chris talking on the intercom and she shook her head.

"Now for our last announcement I'm sure all the girls will like this one." Chris said as he read the paper. "We will be having a welcome back dance next Friday. So all you guys and girls who are crushing on some one or if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend please attend this dance. The dance will be from 8:00pm to 10:00pm." Chris finished the last announcement. "Well, as you'll pretty much know that I'm Chris Jericho and I'm signing off as of right now." Chris finished and turned the intercom off.

That's it for this chapter. Please review with ideas please if you have any.

Citcat


	9. Who's Going With Whom

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 9: Who's going with whom?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the made up characters and story idea.

Free Period

Randy and Stacy

Stacy walked around the halls looking for Mr. Perfect in her eyes. Her smile never leaving her face. As she turned a corner she saw Randy at his locker. Stacy's smile grew bigger as she seen him. She skipped down the hall meeting up at his side.

"Hello cutie." Stacy greeted him with a kiss to the lips.

"Hey stranger." Randy said wrapping his arms around Stacy's waist.

"So, what are you doing with your free period?" Stacy asked as she played with the collar of his shirt.

"Well, I was going to spend it with this really sexy looking tall blonde girl named Stacy." Randy smirked. "But I can't seem to find her anywhere."

"Hmm…well, that seems like a big problem Mr. Orton." Stacy giggled. "Maybe I can help you find her."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Randy asked as he leaned his head against Stacy's.

"Well, I'm going to kiss you, and after I kiss you she'll be here." Stacy said as she kissed him then pulled away.

"Oh wow, Stacy, how did you get here?" Randy chuckled.

"I don't know." Stacy laughed as she stepped out of his embrace and held his hand.

They talked while they walked outside and sat on the steps leading up to the school doors. Randy sat down on a step and Stacy sat one below him, so she was leaning into his arms.

"So, Stace, you want to go to that dance next Friday?" Randy asked her as she played with his hands.

"Yeah, I do, but I'm waiting for someone to ask me." Stacy smirked unnoticed to Randy.

"Well, I'm asking you." Randy said resting his chin on her head.

"Oh, well, sorry Randy, I waiting for someone else to ask me." Stacy lied.

"WHAT?!" Randy yelled stepping away from Stacy. "I'm your boyfriend and you want to go with someone else besides me."

"Well, yeah." Stacy said looking him in the eye. "You understand don't you?"

"No, Stace I don't understand." Randy said anger clear in his voice. "Stace, why don't we call it quits while we're ahead?"

"What?" Stacy asked now confused herself.

"Us, it's over. You want to go to the dance with someone else, I'm sure you won't have to worry about me catching you with someone else." Randy said as he started to walk off.

"Randy." Stacy called but he wouldn't stop walking. "RANDY KEITH ORTON!"

Randy stopped in his tracks. He turned around to see her crying as she ran up to him. As Stacy got to him she took hold of his hand.

"Randy, it was just a joke." Stacy said with tears in her eyes. "I didn't mean for it to go this far, I'm sorry, don't leave me. I want to go with you."

"It was a joke?" Randy said feeling angry at himself for going off on Stacy.

"Yes, I'm sorry." Stacy whispered.

"I'm sorry too." Randy said giving her a hug. "Is that offer to the dance still open and to be your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, it is." Stacy sniffled giving Randy a small smile.

Trish and Chris

Chris walked into the student lounge area and found Trish sitting in there alone. He hadn't seen her in the last three weeks, or her brother Calvin. She had been hanging out with Brock as of late, and it seemed Calvin was too sometimes. Chris smiled as he remembered that Trish was his pretend girlfriend as he sat down next to her.

"Hey you." Chris smiled at her as she looked up from her magazine.

"Hi Chris, what's up?" Trish said closing the magazine.

"Nothing really, what about you?" Chris started. "We don't see you very much anymore."

"Yeah, well, I've been hanging out with Brock showing him around and everything." Trish smiled the smile Chris loved.

"What about Calvin, how's he doing?" Chris wondered.

"He's good, he's really attached to Brock." Trish said as she glanced around the room. "I liked your announcements today."

"Yeah, well, that was a one time thing, unless I get in trouble again." Chris laughed.

"Speaking of the announcements, you know the dance?" Trish began but didn't finish speaking before Chris started speaking.

"Yeah, what about the dance?" Chris asked with a smile knowing she was going to ask him, so he thought.

"Well, you don't have to pretend to be my boyfriend around Jeff anymore." Trish glowed.

"Oh ok, I get it." Chris smiled at her as her thought she would ask him to the dance next.

"That great, because Brock is taking me to the dance." Trish beamed. "Are you happy for me?"

"Yeah, I'm happy for you." Chris said as his heart broke but gave her a small smile.

"I can't believe it, after my hard time getting over Jeff someone came along that I trusted." Trish said as she stood up. "Sorry, but I have to go meet Brock in the library."

"Bye." Chris waved to her.

"Talk to you later." Trish said before she disappeared out of the student lounge.

Chris sat there not believing what he had just heard. Brock was stealing Trish away from him, and her brother. He was going to get pissed off and not talk to Trish, but he couldn't do that. She was happy and that made him happy. He sighed as he stood up from the small sofa. He turned to leave when Joanie walked in.

"There you are?" Joanie said as she walked up to him with a smile.

"Uh, I was just leaving to meet some friends, bye Joanie." Chris said as he tried to leave.

"Wait, I just want to know if you'll go to the dance with me." Joanie said as she stepped in front of him.

"Look Joanie, you are a nice girl, but I'm going with someone else." Chris lied not thinking of a better excuse.

"Oh, well, who is the lucky girl who gets to go with you?" Joanie frowned.

"Uh, well, it's…" Chris tried to think of a name when he was saved by Adam.

"Hey man, come quick I have to show you something." Adam said as he grabbed Chris and dragged him out the lounge.

"Thanks man." Chris said as they turned a corner.

"Yeah, I was walking by and I heard you rambling on and on." Adam said as they stopped walking. "I'm going to get going, I got to go find Nidia and see if she wants to go to the dance.

"Good luck." Chris said as Adam took off.

Paul, Stephanie, and Chris

Stephanie sighed as she read a book outside under a tree. As she finished a chapter she looked up and gazed around the area. It was a beautiful day, as she looked at the school's back entrance she seen Paul walking out heading towards her. She quickly put on her happy face.

"Hey Stephy, what are you up to?" Paul asked sitting next to her.

"Nothing really, I'm just reading a book." Stephanie smiled as she showed him the book.

"Aww, The Shinning." Paul said as he looked to see what page she was on. "I love this book."

"I know, that's all you ever talked about when you read the book three years ago." Steph giggled.

"Yeah, so, who is taking Ms. McMahon to the dance or are you going?" Paul wondered as he gave Steph her book back.

"As of right now, I'm not going with anyone." Steph frowned. "I might just stay home, what about you? Have you asked Torrie yet?"

"You can't stay home, it's the welcome back dance." Paul said as he looked at her. "Yeah, I did ask Torrie and she said yes."

"That great for you two." Steph said with a small smile.

"Yeah, but it wont be the same if you don't go to the dance." Paul started. "This is your last welcome back dance as a senior."

"Yeah, I guess your right, but who am I going to go with?" Steph said looking around.

"I'm sure a lot of guys would want to date you Steph." Paul reassured her.

"Yeah, I guess your right." Steph sighed.

"I'm glad you think I'm right." Paul smiled at her as they head back for the school.

They walked into the school and down the halls together as they talked. Soon they parted and went there separate ways. Paul going to fins Torrie and Steph heading to the lounge. As Stephanie went to the lounge she bumped into Chris.

"Hey Chris." Steph smiled at him. "I liked your announcements this morning."

"Thanks, so you and Paul are going to the dance together?" Chris asked.

"No, why would you say we were?" Steph asked as they started walking again.

"You two looked pretty close together." Chris laughed "But then again, you two are always close together."

"Yeah, what about you?" Steph started. "Are you going to the dance with anyone?"

"Nope, well, not yet." Chris sighed as they stopped at Stephanie's locker.

"That makes two of us." Steph said with a small laugh.

"Hmm…you know, how about we go together?" Chris suggested.

"You mean, the two of us," Points to herself and then to Chris. "Going to the dance as dates?"

"Yeah, why not?" Chris said shrugging his shoulders. "We both don't have dates."

"You know Chris." Stephanie said with a smile. "You got yourself a date."

Hope you all liked this chapter. Two chapters in one day, I think that's a first. I'm still open for ideas. Please read and review

Citcat


	10. Before, During, And After The Dance

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 10: Before, During, and After the Dance

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the made up names. Everything else belongs to the respectful owner(s).

A/N: This will be a long chapter, to make up for the kind of long, kind of short chapters recently.

Stephanie smiled at herself in the mirror. She thought she didn't look to bad well, not bad at all. Her dress wasn't an expensive dress she didn't see the point in going out to buy a new dress, just for a welcome back dance. For not being expensive the dress was pretty nice. It was a mid length black spaghetti strap dress with pink stitched hearts on the lower left corner of the dress.

She walked back into her room from her adjoining bathroom. Her hair which was left down was crimped. Steph grabbed her black heeled sandals from the side of her bed and slid them on her feet right as Shane walked in.

"Haven't you heard of knocking?" Stephanie said annoyed at her brother for just walking in on her.

"Yeah, I have, but anyway…" Shane couldn't finish when Steph interrupted him.

"I could have been naked, or something." Steph said as she stood up as she straightens out her dress.

"Fine, I'll knock." Shane said as he closed the door then knocked on it. "Can I come in now?"

"Open the door Shane." Steph laughed at her brother. "What do you want and aren't you supposed to be picking Marissa up?"

"Yeah, I am, but when I went to leave I opened the door and Chris was there waiting for you." Shane said a bit confused. "Why is he waiting for you, it can't be the fact that you guys are all riding together because it was just him."

"Chris is my date Shane." Stephanie said as she picked up her jacket and exiting her room.

"Wow, you and Chris, I didn't even see that coming." Shane said as he walked down stairs with Steph.

"Yeah, I didn't either." Steph said as she smiled at Chris reaching the end of the staircase. "Hi"

"Hey, you ready to go?" Chris asked wearing a nice sliver button up dress shirt and a pair of black slacks.

"Yeah, let's go." Steph smiled as she took Chris' arm he held out to her.

"Don't you have to say bye to your parents?" Chris asked as they walked to his car.

"They left a couple hours ago to do some business." Stephanie smiled as he opened the door for her. "Thanks."

Shane watched the two head to Chris' car, then drive off. He shook his, but smiled at the same time. He locked up the house before he left.

Calvin pulled out of the window as he watched Chris drive off with Stephanie. He had no clue Chris was going with Stephanie. All he knew was that Stacy was going with Randy and Paul was going with Torrie, due to Trish telling Brock that the other day when they were hanging out at the ice cream shop. Calvin shook his head as he ran upstairs to Trish's room. As he made it to her door he knocked, respecting his older sister's privacy, and he didn't want to walk in on something he didn't want to see.

"Come in." Trish said as she curled a strand of hair.

"How come you didn't tell Brock and me that Stephanie and Chris were going to the dance together?" Calvin asked right as he walked in.

"WHAT?!?"

Trish nearly brunt herself with the curling iron when Calvin said that. She set the curling iron down and walked out of the bathroom wearing her powder blue mid length dress. She looked at Calvin who was wearing an old pair of sweat pants and a 'Disturbed' t-shirt. He wasn't going to the dance because he was sick.

"Calvin, maybe you are hallucinating." Trish said hoping that was the answer. "Remember you are sick."

"No, Trish, I saw it, and I'm serious." Calvin said as Trish sat on her bed.

"Are you sure it was Chris?" Trish asked, no believing that Chris and Steph would go to the dance together.

"Yeah, it was because I know his car." Calvin said staring at Trish.

"They are probably just going as friends." Trish said, but mainly reassuring herself.

"Yeah, ok, but that's not what it looked like." Calvin responded and left.

Trish sat there on her bed thinking. It couldn't be true, Steph and Chris. Sure, Stacy and Randy went out and were friends before, but Stephanie and Chris. That didn't make sense. To be honest that was probably the last two people she thought would ever go out. Trish slipped on her blue heels as she thought of why Chris and Stephanie would hook up. Not that it mattered to her or did it?

"Trish, Brock is here." Her mother yelled up the stairs knocking her out of her thoughts.

"They are just going as friends, that it friends." Trish said to herself as she grabbed her sweater.

Trish walked downstairs and smiled when she saw Brock standing there talking to Calvin and her parents. He was wearing a navy blue button up shirt and black dress pants. She smiled making her way to Brock's side.

"Hey cutie." Brock said wrapping an arm around her waist. "You ready?"

"Yeah, bye mom, dad, and Calvin." Trish said as her family watched her leave.

"Have fun, and make sure you take care of my daughter." Trish's father said before he shut the door.

Hayley Keibler watched as her cousin rushed around her room getting ready. Stacy acted as if she never went out with Randy before by the way she was acting. Hayley laughed right as Stacy got down on her hands and knees looking under her bed and started tossing things out from under the bed.

"What are you looking for Stace?" Hayley asked as she slid down next to Stacy.

"My white heeled sandals." Stacy said as she tossed Randy's shirt out from under her bed.

"First off, your heels are in your closet in a box on the top of your shelf." Hayley began. "Next, who's is this?"

Stacy ran over to her closet and sure enough her shoes were exactly where Hayley said they were. Hayley was some what the same as Stacy, as in knowing things that others don't know sometimes that's why they got along so well. Stacy turned to look at Hayley holding Randy's shirt.

"Oh, that's Randy's shirt." Stacy smirked putting her heels on that matched her white mid length summer dress. "I took it when he had this small party with just the six of us."

"Does he know?" Hayley asked curious.

"No, and he isn't going to find out either." Stacy said as she stood up looking herself up and down.

Hayley shook her head and walked down stairs leaving the shirt on Stacy's bed. She hadn't seen Randy or the others for a couple of years. She had lived in California, but that was until her parents died in a car crash and she came and stayed with Stacy. Soon she left to stay with her other cousin, but that wasn't working out. That's why she's here now, she had just arrived earliar that night.

As she walked passed the door there was a knock. She wondered if it was Stacy's date, she still had no clue that Stacy was going out with Randy or that was her date. She slowly opened the door to find Randy on the other side wearing a white button up shirt and a pair of black pants.

"Hayley?" Randy wondered aloud.

"Hey Randy" Hayley smiled as she looked him up and down.

"Wow, haven't seen you around here for a while." Randy said giving her a hug.

"Yeah, well, you'll get to see more of me now." Hayley smiled.

"Why is that?" Randy asked walking inside.

"I live here now." Hayley said shutting the door. "So, why are you here?"

"Well, I'm here to pick Stacy up." Randy smiled.

"Oh, are you guys going as friends?" Hayley hoped, if not she didn't care.

"No, we've been going out for about three weeks now." Randy said as he noticed Stacy coming downstairs.

"Randy!" Stacy screeched and ran and gave him a hug.

"You ready?" He asked playing with her curled hair.

"Yeah." She answered him giving him a kiss.

Hayley watched them hug, and then snuck into her room. She didn't want to see them hugging and kissing all over each other. She sighed as she sat down on her bed. She had liked Randy since she met him. He was so great in her mind, that's why she felt hurt when she found out he was seeing Stacy, but all of a sudden it didn't matter that he was going out with Stacy. As far as she knew, she'd make Randy her's even if that meant losing her trust and everything with Stacy.

At the Dance

Paul and Torrie got out of Paul's car and headed for the entrance of the school. Paul was wearing a black button up shirt and a pair of black pants, while Torrie wore a red mid length dress with red heels. She smiled as she held onto Paul's arm. She thought he was the best looking thing in the world.

As they entered the building they could hear the music playing. They head down the hall, all the way to the gym. Paul pulled Torrie closer to him as they walked into the gym. Torrie smiled seeing all her friends and people dancing. Paul on the other hand, felt something, like he shouldn't be here with Torrie, but he shook it off and put a smile on. He looked around and saw Stacy and Randy already here dancing. Looking around some more he saw Trish walking up to him, but he didn't see Stephanie or Chris anywhere which made him frown when he didn't see Steph. Maybe she didn't come after all like she said she wouldn't.

"Hi Paul, Torrie." Trish smiled as she walked up to the two.

"Hi Trish" Paul and Torrie said in union and Torrie giggled.

"Could I steal Paul away just for a second Torrie, I promise it wont be long?" Trish asked taking Paul by the arm.

"Sure, Paul I'll be over there talking to Victoria and Lita." Torrie said skipping off.

"What is it Trish?" Paul asked looking around again for Steph or Chris.

Before Trish could say anything Stacy and Randy walked up to them.

"Hey Paul, Trish how are you two?" Stacy asked with a smile.

"Good, but have any of you seen Chris or Stephanie?" Trish asked as she too kept looking around for Chris or Stephanie.

"No, we haven't." Randy said to answer for Stacy too.

"I haven't seen them either, what's the deal, Trish?" Paul asked as he eyed the blonde.

"Well, Calvin said he seen Chris pick Stephanie up at her house as if they were coming to the dance together as dates." Trish said quickly.

"Stephanie and Chris?" The other three asked at once.

"Yes, that's why I'm trying to find them." Trish said. "Did Chris or Steph tell any of you that they were going with one another?"

"None of them told me, but why are you caring so much?" Paul asked curious, though he had no room to talk himself.

"I was just wondering, because if you think about it, Chris and Steph?" Trish said covering up what she guessed was jealousy. "I mean, when you put those two together there is always trouble."

"Yeah, she does have a point." Stacy said as Randy wrapped his arms around her.

"Well, they are probably just coming as friends." Randy answered with a laugh.

"Well, if we see them, let's just ask them instead of assuming." Paul said as he headed over to Torrie.

"Come on Randy, let's go dance." Stacy said leading Randy to the dance floor.

"Yeah, just friends." Trish said as she walked back over to Brock.

Right after they all had went their separate ways Stephanie and Chris walked in with people eyeing them shocked that they were going out. Everyone never thought Chris and Stephanie would go out, it just didn't seem like them. They were more brother and sister than item wise, but some things turn out differently.

Stephanie smiled as she held onto Chris' arm. They hadn't told anyone they were coming together because they wanted to see what people thought. It was surprising that mostly everyone was shocked, but they looked forward to seeing Trish, Stacy, Paul, and Randy's reaction. Though they came as dates, they still decided to just be friends.

"Look, there's Paul and Torrie." Chris said pointing out Paul dancing with Torrie.

"They look pretty happy." Stephanie half smiled. "There's Trish and Brock."

"I wonder where Stacy and Randy are." Chris wonders while looking around.

"Over there, by the punch." Stephanie answered pointing them out.

"So, what do you wanna do first?" Chris asked looking at her.

Stephanie stood there looking around, and thinking. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to talk to their friends or dance first. To help make up her mind, here favorite song "Slow Jams" came on.

"I love this song." Steph smiled as she looked at Chris.

"You want to dance?" Chris asked leading her to the dance floor.

"I'd love to." Stephanie said putting her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

Stacy wrapped her arms around Randy's neck and he wrapped his hands around her waist. Stacy smiled as they swayed to the song. Randy looked around the gym until he spotted Chris and Stephanie dancing together.

"Hey Stace" Randy whispered in her ear.

"Hmm" Stacy mumbled with her eyes closed.

"There's Chris and Steph." Randy said turning, while dancing so she could see them.

"They don't look that bad together." Stacy said opening her eyes.

"I agree." Randy said glancing at everyone else.

"We'll have to talk to them later." Stacy said shutting her eyes again.

Paul danced slowly with Torrie as he glanced around the room. As he doubled-back across the room, he noticed Steph and Chris dancing. Trish was right, they did come together. He glared at Chris, even though he didn't know why, he guessed it was the fact that Chris and Steph seemed like brother and sister to him.

"What's wrong?" Torrie asked as she noticed Paul glaring at someone.

"Oh nothing, I thought I saw something." Paul said looking at Torrie and giving her a smile.

"Ok" Torrie said before she rested her head back on Paul's shoulder.

Paul shook his head as he watched Chris and Stephanie dance and for the first time in his life he was jealous of Chris.

Trish smiled as she swayed to the music with Brock. She felt like they were the only two in the room at the moment. That was how she felt until she noticed Chris dancing with Stephanie. Trish a little bit shocked stopped dancing, which caused Brock to wonder.

"Is something wrong?" Brock asked as he looked down at her.

"Um, no nothing is wrong, I thought I saw something that didn't look right." Trish lied.

"Alright, if you say so." Brock said as they started dancing again.

They continued to dance until the song was over. When the song ended Trish immediately went to confront Chris and Stephanie.

Chris led Stephanie to an empty table and they sat down. They watched as people switched from slow dancing to fast dancing.

"Can I get you a drink?" Chris asked as he stood up.

"That would be nice." Stephanie smiled, her eyes sparkling.

"Alright, I'll be back in a minute." Chris said as he left the table.

Stephanie sat there smiling at everyone as she watched them dance. As she looked around she noticed Stacy and Trish running over to her. She laughed as Stacy almost tripped over her own two feet.

"That wasn't funny Steph." Stacy said as she sat next to Steph.

"Sorry, what do you two want?" Steph asked as she looked at the blondes.

"What's the deal with you and Chris?" Trish asked rather quickly.

"What do you mean?" Steph asked a bit confused.

"You and Chris, duh?" Stacy said as she waved at Randy, who was talking with Batista.

"We came to the dance as dates." Stephanie couldn't finish when Trish cut her off.

"So you two are going out, and I didn't know it." Trish started talking non-stop until Stephanie butted in.

"Trish, we're only friends, we just came as dates to get peoples reaction." Stephanie said worried about how Trish was acting.

"So, you two aren't dating?" Stacy asked to make sure she heard her right.

"No we aren't dating, is that why she's freaking out?" Steph asked as she looked at Trish who ran a hand through her hair.

"Sorry Steph." Trish said looking down and feeling bad.

"It's ok, but I don't get why you're getting so worked up about it." Steph responded. "You've got Brock."

"I don't know, I just…just forget it." Trish said with a small smile. "So how do you like the dance?"

Chris walked over to the punch bowl and grabbed the ladle pouring some punch into the cup. As he did that he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find Randy and Paul standing there with smiles on their faces.

"What?" Chris asked as he grabbed another cup.

"So, you and Stephanie are an item now?" Paul asked in some what of a rude, yet protective tone.

"Paul, don't assume things, remember?" Randy said as he got some punch for him and Stacy.

"Steph and me an item?" Chris asked. "No, we just came as dates to get peoples reaction, which it is funny."

"See Paul, you are getting all worked up for nothing, she isn't going anywhere." Randy said not realizing what he just said.

"What?" Paul and Chris asked in union.

"Come on, everyone knows Steph likes you Paul." Randy said turning around and seeing the dumbfounded looks on their faces. "What?"

"How do you know?" Paul asked as he looked over at Steph laughing with Trish and Stacy.

"Yes, please tell how you know Stephanie likes Paul." Chris said also looking over at Stephanie.

"Oh, did I say that, uh, I was joking." Randy smiled nervously. "Yeah, it was just a joke."

After saying that Randy nearly ran over to Stacy, Trish, and Steph. Almost spilling his and Stacy's drink.

"Tell me why I don't think it was a joke?" Paul asked as he stared at a joke.

"The only way to find out is to ask her yourself." Chris said as he glanced around the room. "If you care that she might like you."

"Paul I love this song, we have to dance to it, please?" Torrie ran up to Paul begging that he dance with her.

"Come on sweet cheeks." Paul gave her his best smile and went to dance with her.

"I guess you don't care." Chris said as he made his way back to Stephanie.

After the Dance

Paul pulled up in Torrie's drive way. He shut the car off and looked over at Torrie giving her a smile. She smiled back as she got out the car. Paul walked her up to her door and they stopped right outside.

"I had a nice time tonight." Torrie smiled her eyes sparkling with happiness. "Thank you."

"It was nothing, I had a good time to." Paul answered as he returned the smile.

"Maybe, we could go out some time, just you know, you and me." Torrie wondered aloud as she looked at him with hope in her eyes.

"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." Paul said giving her the answer she was hoping for. "How about next Saturday at 7:00?"

"It's a date." Torrie blushed.

"Well, goodnight Torrie." Paul said as he stepped down from the porch.

"Goodnight." Torrie said stepping inside her house shutting the door from behind her.

Randy pulled up next to Stacy's house. He leaned over and gave her a kiss, and smiled. Stacy giggled as she got out the car and ran up to the front door. As Randy followed her by walking.

"How do you run in those heels Stace?" Randy asked bringing her into a hug.

"I don't know, I just can." Stacy said unlocking the door. "You want to come in for a drink before you leave?"

"Sure, I don't see a problem in that." Randy smiled as he walked in with Stacy.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to go change out of these heels." Stacy kissed Randy before she ran upstairs.

Randy sat down on the sofa while he waited for Stacy to come back downstairs. As he waited Hayley came out of her room.

"Hey Randy" Hayley smiled looking up the stairs, she had to make this quick.

"Hayley, hi, what are you still doing up?" Randy asked unaware of the time.

"Randy, its only 10:30." Hayley giggled and sat next to Randy. "So, did you have a nice time?"

"Yeah, I did." Randy said giving her a friendly smile.

Hayley smiled as she scooted closer to Randy.

"Uh, Hayley, what are you doing?" Randy asked as he stared at Hayley.

"I want to make sure you ended your night with a goodnight kiss." Hayley said as she kissed Randy unexpectedly.

After Hayley kissed Randy she stood up with a smirk on her face. He just sat there frozen. Hayley ran back into her room when she heard Stacy coming downstairs. As Stacy made it downstairs she went and sat next to Randy.

"What's wrong?" Stacy asked concerned.

"Uh, Hayley…" Randy started when he saw Hayley look out her room at him.

"Hayley what Randy?" Stacy asked as she eyed him.

"Hayley's up and she came out to say hi." Randy lied as he watched Hayley go back into her room with a smile.

"She's up, I thought she was asleep." Stacy smiled as she went to kiss Randy, but he pulled away.

"I should get going." Randy said as he stood up.

"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow." Stacy said walking him to the door.

"Yeah, bye." Randy said leaving without giving Stacy a goodnight kiss.

"Yeah bye." Stacy said to herself as she watched Randy leave.

Brock walked Trish to her door step with his arm around her waist. He smiled as they reached the door step. Trish turned to Brock and smiled giving him a hug.

"Thank you for a good time." Trish blushed looking down.

"It was nothing Trish, I loved spending time with you." Brock said as he smiled at her.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow afternoon?" Trish asked with a smile on her face from ear to ear.

"How can I say no to that smile?" Brock asked as he kissed her cheek.

"So, I'll call you tomorrow and we'll set a time." Trish answered unlocking the door.

"Alright, talk to you tomorrow." Brock said as he walked down the porch to his car.

Stephanie smiled as Chris walked her to her door. She turned around and gave him a smile with her eyes sparkling.

"So, did you have fun tonight?" Chris asked as smiled at her.

"Yeah, I did have fun." Stephanie said as she gazed at the stars. "Don't we always have fun when we are together?"

"Yeah, we do." Chris laughed.

"Well, it's getting late." Stephanie said unlocking the door.

"I should be going anyway." Chris answered as he tossed his keys up.

"Thanks Chris, for a really good time." Stephanie said as she smiled at him.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Chris smiled giving her a hug.

When they pulled out of the hug they stood there, with their arms still around each other staring at each other. After a long moment of silence and staring, they both leaned in and kissed each other.

Trish sighed as she walked upstairs and sat down next to her window. She kicked off her heels and shut her eyes. As she opened her eyes she looked out her window and saw Chris' car outside Stephanie's house. Her eyes wandered to Steph's front porch, just in time to see Stephanie and Chris kissing.

That's it for this chapter. The idea for making Stacy have a cousin was CaitlinJ714's idea. The name Hayley was also given to me from her, so thank you. Also thank you to T-money1 for the idea, but I already had almost finished the next chapter, but I might be able to use that idea in a future chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and please, review. Also, I am still open for ideas. Thank you.

Citcat


	11. Monday Morning

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 11: Monday Morning

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize as a wrestler or divas name. The wrestlers and divas own themselves.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm glad that you all like my story and I hope you continue to read. Thanks again.

Stacy and Hayley walked onto the school's grounds talking. Well, mainly Stacy complaining to Hayley about how she hasn't talked to Randy all weekend. Just hearing Stacy complain made her smile, knowing her job was in full swing. Her thoughts were interrupted when Stacy asked her something.

"Hayley, why do you think he is acting this way?" Stacy whined as they walked around the building.

"I really don't know Stace." Hayley lied as she smiled.

"Sorry if I'm complaining too much." Stacy apologized. "So, are you excited about your first day?"

"Yeah, I am excited." Hayley smiled as she noticed Randy talking to Dave Batista.

"What are you smiling about?" Stacy asked looking in Hayley's direction to see Dave and Randy.

"Uh, nothing Stacy." Hayley lied yet again.

"Sorry Hayley, Dave's taken." Stacy said giving her a small smile.

"What?" Hayley asked as she looked at Stacy confused.

"You were staring at Dave." Stacy said shaking her head.

"Oh, yeah, I was huh." Hayley said as she realized Stacy must have thought she wouldn't look at Randy knowing that Stacy was going out with him.

"Look, I'm going to go talk to Randy." Stacy said as she started heading towards Randy.

"See you later cuz." Hayley smirked.

Randy sighed as he talked to Dave and looked around for Stacy. At the moment he was trying to avoid her. He hadn't spoken to her since Friday night when Hayley kissed him. Stacy called him on Saturday but he never answered. Randy couldn't even look at Stacy knowing he lied to her. For some reason he felt he could tell Dave about what happened, instead of the other guys because he knew if he told Chris or Paul it would some how get back to Stacy.

"So, what are you going to do?" Dave asked. "Stacy is bound to find out sooner or later."

"I don't know Dave, that's the problem." Randy asked as he looked down at his feet.

"Well, you don't have to worry about her anymore, she's gone." Dave stated.

"No, she is living with Stacy now." Randy said as he ran a hand over his head.

"Ok, so that means she's coming here for school." Dave commented.

"Correct." Randy said sarcasticly.

"Well, did you like it?" Dave asked as Stacy walked up.

"Like what?" Stacy asked walking up to Randy's side.

"Stacy, hi, I just asked Randy if he liked my idea for the basketball game coming up." Dave winked at Randy unnoticed to Stacy. "So, did you?"

"Uh…" Randy looked down and moved his foot in circles then looked up. "Yeah, I did."

"Man, we'll talk about this later." Dave said turning around. "I got to go find Gail."

"Bye Dave" Stacy said as Dave walked off. "Randy…"

"I have to go, uh, I have to talk to my coach." Randy said cutting Stacy off and leaving before she could say anything else.

"Why can't you talk to me?" Stacy asked herself aloud as she frowned and a tear slipped from her eye.

Trish walked onto school grounds alone. It was Monday, which meant four more long days of school until the weekend. She had refused to walk with her brother or Brock to school. She hadn't talked to anyone of her friends since she seen Stephanie and Chris kiss. It kept replaying in her head. All she could think about was if it meant something. As much as she wanted to know the answer to that question, she didn't want to know the answer. As she walked around the building she bumped into Brock.

"Hey sweetie, I called you Saturday, but you didn't answer." Brock smiled at her.

"Yeah, I uh had a lot on my mind." Trish said as she tried to walk around him.

"Care to share?" Brock asked as he noticed her trying to get around him.

"No, I just want to be alone ok?" Trish yelled at him.

"Ok, sorry I bothered." Brock said as he walked off leaving Trish.

Trish sighed to herself as she continued walking around the school. Now she felt bad for yelling at Brock. He didn't do anything, but ask what was wrong. She stopped walking as she leaned against the wall and shut her eyes. She was going out with Brock now, why does this Stephanie and Chris kiss thing have to cause me so her so much pain she kept thinking.

"I knew I liked him." Trish whispered to herself. "So, why did I lie and go out with Brock."

Trish kept asking herself over and over again that same question. Maybe it was the fact that she was afraid to tell Chris how she felt, and the fact that she thought they could be nothing more then friends. After thinking that she thought to herself that maybe she could love Brock the way she loved Chris as in more then a friend.

Paul walked on campus with an arm around Torrie's waist feeling really awkward. For some reason he couldn't take his mind off of Stephanie. He didn't know why he kept thinking of her. They were just friends and he's never thought of Stephanie this much before. Some what like Trish, what Randy said kept running thorough his head. Was it really a joke? Paul shook his head as he felt Torrie pulling on his arm.

"Paul, hello" Torrie asked tugging on his arm.

"Uh, What" Paul asked as he was brought back into reality.

"You zoned out on me again." Torrie complained with a pout.

"Sorry, Torrie, I just, I don't know." Paul said honestly.

"I know Paul." Torrie sighed being honest.

"Know what?" Paul asked confused to what she knew.

"At the dance, I saw how you looked at Stephanie." Torrie said looking down her eyes getting watery.

"If you knew, why did you ask to go out again?" Paul asked as he took his arm from around her waist.

"I was hoping it was just that night." Torrie stated. "But it's wasn't just that night, that's why you've been zoning out."

"How did you know I was thinking about her?" Paul asked knowing he was breaking her heart.

"It's obvious when you call the person your with Stephanie's name when asked a question." Torrie sighed fighting the tears. "Let's just stay friends Paul, and hopefully you can get Steph and be happy. Or maybe when you're ready we can try us again."

"Torrie, or so sweet, you deserve so much better then me." Paul said giving her a hug.

"Yeah, whatever you say Paul." Torrie said patting his back.

Now on the other hand Stephanie and Chris have been all smiles since Friday. After the kiss they decided to try going out, which was obviously going well. They went out on Saturday and hung out at Steph's place on Sunday. It seemed like things were going perfectly for them.

"You know Steph, I never in a million years thought this would happen." Chris said pointing at Steph and him.

"Me either, I was a bit shocked." Steph said glowing. "I wonder who knows."

"Me too, I mean, we did see jabber mouth Molly and her little group." Chris stated holding Stephanie's hand.

"Wouldn't doubt it that people start talking about us by lunch." Stephanie answered as they turned a corner bumping into Joanie.

"Hi Chris, how are you today?" Joanie asked not noticing Stephanie.

"I'm fine Joanie." Chris said bringing Stephanie closer to him.

"Oh, Steph hi." Joanie said now noticing the two holding hands. "Are you two dating?"

"Yeah we are Joanie." Stephanie answered for Chris.

"Oh, wow, you two dating that a shock." Joanie said as she noticed that no one was really asking them if they were going out. "So, does anyone know?"

"Well, only you and Molly know, of what we know." Chris answered.

"Ok, well, bye." Joanie said walking off but before walking off she started to say something loudly. "I can't believe CHRIS JERICHO and STEPHANIE MCMAHON are DATING."

Chris and Stephanie looked at each other then around to see everyone running over to them asking questions. Why would they ask questions? They were like any other normal couple, besides the fact no one thought they would go out because they were more like brother and sister. They weren't too worried until they noticed Stacy, Trish, Paul, and Randy coming from different directions.

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked this chapter. Please review. Now just to let you all know, I'm going to be jumping around as in what days it is as you can tell. Like how I went from the dance to Monday.

Citcat


	12. It's Over

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 12: It's Over

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize as a wrestler or divas name. The wrestlers and divas own themselves.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Sorry this took me so long to get up, but I have been busy getting ready to go back to school and everything. Hopefully, I'll be able to get you all more updates.

Chris and Stephanie stood in the same spot as everyone slowly vanished from around them until the only people left were Trish, Stacy, Randy and Paul. Stephanie looked at the other four friends with a small smile as for some reason she was a bit nervous. Chris on the other hand stood tall and looked all of them in the eye. They are their best friends, they should know what is going on.

"When did this happen?" Paul asked right off the bat. "You said you two went to the dance as just friends."

Stephanie's smile faded a little bit at the anger in Paul's tone. Why was he so mad that she was going out with Chris? Before she or Chris could answer the question Trish spoke letting her anger out.

"It happened the night of the dance." Trish said holding back tears. "When they kissed after Chris dropped her off."

"You saw that?" Chris and Steph questioned together.

"Yeah, I did." Trish replied rolling her eyes. "So, its official, you two are dating."

"Well, yeah, we're dating." Stephanie answered Trish who was looking at the ground.

"All I have to say to the two of you is…" Randy stopped and thought for a second. "The best of luck and make sure you both are completely honest with each other."

"That's something werid coming from you Randy." Stacy said as she still wondered why he wasn't talking to her. "Anyways are you two sure this won't ruin your friendship?"

"What do you mean?" Chris asked as he put an arm around Steph's waist without seeing the death glare he was getting from Paul.

"Say your relationship doesn't work out." Randy answered as that was what he was thinking about in his case with Stacy and Hayley.

"You should know a lot about that too Randy." Stacy said turning her attention to Randy.

"Well, maybe you should have put our friendship first before you told Andrew we were dating." Randy said and for the first time looking Stacy in the eye.

"Maybe I should have, because then I wouldn't have to worry about us still be friends after our break-up due to the fact that you wont even speak to me." Stacy yelled anger clear in her eyes.

"Um, you guys…" Trish was cut off by Stacy and Randy.

"Not now Trish." Randy and Stacy yelled still staring at each other.

"What, do you expect me to talk to you all the time and dedicate all my time to you?" Randy spat as everyone watched the two argue. "I don't think so, damn Stacy the whole world doesn't revolve around you."

"I wasn't asking you to give me all your attention." Stacy said as a couple tears started to fall. "I was just asking you to talk to me for about five minutes out of your 'hard and busy' life."

Paul, Trish, Stephanie and Chris watched as there was no sound from anyone. Stacy stared at Randy with mixed emotions. What happened to the Randy she feel in love with? Randy on the other hand stared at Stacy with an angry stare. He didn't know why, he wasn't even mad at her, but he wasn't about to let down his guard because she was hurt and crying. She would just be getting her way. After a minute Stacy spoke with tears still falling.

"See you have nothing to say about my last because you don't even care that you don't talk to your girlfriend." Stacy cried. "Since it is so easy for you not to care, then it'll be easier for me to stop caring about you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Randy asked as he glared at her.

"It means we are through." Stacy screamed as she ran off away from the group.

"Nice going Randy." Paul said as he looked at Randy.

Randy didn't even answer. All he did was walk off to. He didn't believe this was happening at first, but as he thought about it, Randy realized it was over between the two of them. After Randy walked off Paul spoke again.

"So, what are you two going to do now?" Paul started. "Now that you see your friendship could go up in flames are you two still going to go out?"

"Yeah, Paul has a very good point." Trish spoke as she eyed the new couple.

"Well, yeah we are, just because they might not be friends anymore doesn't mean we won't be." Stephanie answered reassuringly.

"Are you two sure about this?" Trish said trying her best to make them have second thoughts. "I mean come on, out of everyone you two could have you two want to be with each other?"

"Trish, what is your problem?" Stephanie questioned a bit annoyed. "I thought you out of all people would be happy for us."

"Why are you being this way Trish?" Chris asked eyeing the chocolate brown eyed blonde.

"I don't have to stand here and take this." Trish stated and walked off in the opposite direction of the way Stacy and Randy walked off.

"I'm going to go see if I can talk to her." Stephanie said kissing Chris on the cheek then running after Trish.

There were no words spoken after Stephanie left. Paul glared at Chris until Chris finally noticed and spoke up.

"Man what's with the look?" Chris asked as he stepped back from Paul.

"I swear if you hurt her or break her heart I will personally kick your ass myself." Paul stated meaningfully. "And that's a promise."

After that was said from Paul he walked off leaving a confused Chris standing there. Chris stood alone and wonders what was up with Paul. He figured that he must have had a bad morning.

Sorry this is so short, I really didn't know what to write. But now, I have an idea which is going to be quite shocking. Please review. Thank you for reading.

Citcat


	13. My Cousin

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 13: My Cousin

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea of this story and the made up characters you don't recognize as a wrestler or diva's name.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up. I have been real busy with school and home life at the moment. Well, anyways here is the long awaited chapter.

After School At Stephanie's House

Stacy lay flat out on Stephanie's queen size bed with her head smothered in a pink fluffy pillow. She was spending the rest of the day with Stephanie after everything that had happened this morning. Trish was invited to come and spend the day with them but she turned down that offer because of her jealousy. Stephanie sighed as she flipped through an old photo album that her mom had found while cleaning out the attic. She stopped flipping the pages when Stacy spoke up.

"Why is he being so different from when school first started?" Stacy asked a silent tear slipping from her eye.

"I don't know Stacy, it seems like Trish, Paul, and Randy is different." Stephanie answered knowing that Stacy was talking about Randy.

"I can tell you now, it's going to be one hell of a year." Stacy sighed rolling over to see what picture Stephanie was looking at.

"I'm sure everything will work out fine Stace." Stephanie stated as she heard her mother from downstairs.

"Stephanie, some one is here to see you." Linda yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'll be right back Stacy." Stephanie said as she skipped out her room and down the stairs. "Trish, what are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize Steph." Trish stated as she stood by the open door.

"For what?" Stephanie asked, just a little confused.

"For acting the way I did about you and Chris." Trish sighed. "It's just the fact that I was…"

"You were what Trish?" Steph asked sitting on the stairs.

"I was…" Trish trailed off again.

"You were what Trish, tired, in a bad mood, is your monthly friend here, what Trish?" Stephanie went on getting a bit mad.

"I was jealous ok." Trish stated a couple tears falling.

"Why were you jealous, you have Brock?" Stephanie asked calming down.

"I know I have Brock, but I don't like him that way, I just went out with him because I knew Chris would never like me the way he likes you now." Trish cried as she sat next to Stephanie. "I'm jealous because you have the man of my dreams."

"Well, why didn't you tell me that Trish?" Stephanie asked. "If that was the case I would have left Chris."

"I didn't tell you because you were finally happy, and you weren't worried about Paul going out with Torrie." Trish sniffled wiping at her tears. "I'm over that now though."

"Are you sure?" Stephanie questioned.

"Yeah, you two deserve to be together." Trish stated with a small smile. "You both should be happy and if it's not me with Chris, I'm glad it's you and not Joanie."

"Your right." Stephanie laughed. "Come on Stacy's upstairs."

Trish and Stephanie ran upstairs and into her room. They found Stacy lying on the bed flipping through Stephanie's photo album of the six friends. Not the old one Linda found in the attic. Stacy looked up when she heard Stephanie come back into the room and she smiled.

"Hi Trish, what are you doing here?" Stacy asked with a small smile.

"I was thinking about how much fun I would be missing if I wasn't here." Trish smiled as she jumped on the bed next to Stacy.

"Well, you're not missing out on a lot, I'm just sulking and Steph's going through some old family photos." Stacy laughed sarcasticly.

"Well, then let's make it fun." Stephanie smiled as she picked up the photo album and put it on her dresser.

"Wait, I want to know why you were mad at Steph earliar." Stacy stated looking towards Trish.

"Well, I was, a bit jealous that Steph and Chris were going out." Trish smiled a little.

"I could have told you that." Stacy smirked. "Remember I know everything."

"How could we forget?" Stephanie and Trish said in union.

At Randy's House

Randy sighed as he sat alone in the living room. His parents were at work and his three year old sister was at his grandma's house. He had been trying to get a hold of Stacy, but he kept getting her answer machine. All of a sudden the phone started to ring and Randy picked it up quickly hoping it was Stacy.

"Stacy, look I'm…" Randy was cut short.

"Randy, man it's me Dave." Dave stated firmly into the phone.

"Oh, Dave, what's up?" Randy asked with no emotion.

"Well, I'm glad to be talking to you too." Dave replied. "What's up with you?"

"Oh nothing, just the fact that Stacy has forever walked out of my life." Randy sighed as he headed upstairs with his cordless phone.

"I thought you would be happy, you did say in code that you liked the kiss Hayley gave you." Dave said striking a nerve.

"How the hell could you say that?" Randy yelled into the phone. "Sure I may have liked the kiss, but that small kiss made me lose the love of my life."

"Sorry man, so what are you going to do?" Dave asked not wanting to get his head bitten off again.

There was a long pause after what Dave had asked. Right as Dave asked that Randy spotted a picture of Stacy on his night stand. She was in her little blue and gold cheerleading out fit and she had on the perfect smile. He took the picture and held it to his heart. Randy was knocked out of his trance when he heard Dave speak.

"Earth to Randy, are you still there?" Dave questioned.

"Yeah, I'm here." Randy spoke setting the picture back down. "I'm going to do whatever it takes."

At Paul's House

Paul yawned as he waited for her to answer the phone. It was on the fourth ring and Paul was about to hang up when she answered.

"Hello" The woman answered.

"Hey sis, haven't heard from you in a while." Paul smiled on the phone.

"Baby brother, wow, you sound so much older, how are you?" Lynn smiled.

"I'm not doing to go, that's why I called you." Paul answered honestly.

"Well, tell your problems to your older and much wiser sister." Lynn laughed causing Paul to laugh.

"Ha ha, you're funny." Paul laughed. "Anyways it's about this girl."

"Oh my god, is my baby brother Paul having girl problems?" Lynn laughed.

"It's not funny Lynn." Paul stated firmly.

"Ok, I'm sorry, tell me what's going on." Lynn said again being serious.

"Well, I really like this girl." Paul started. "I've liked her for a long time, but I'm just now realizing that I like her."

"Oh my…do you like Stephanie?" Lynn asked shock in her voice.

"I never said it was Stephanie, I said it was a girl." Paul answered her question.

"Ok, go on." Lynn smirked, knowing that he was talking about Stephanie.

"Well, now she's going out with my best friend." Paul suddenly paused, he said too much now.

"So it has to be Stephanie, Trish or Stacy." Lynn stated. "If she is going out with your best friend."

"No it doesn't, Chris could be going out with someone other than those three." Paul stated now reviling which friend he was talking about.

"Ok, so who is Chris going out with, that you're head over heels for?" Lynn asked quickly so Paul would just answer quickly with no time for her question to register in his mind.

"He's going out with Stephanie." Paul blurted out as he realized what Lynn just did. "That's not fair, you tricked me."

"Whatever, so you are finally coming to realize that you like Stephanie." Lynn said with a frown. "But now it's too late because she's moved on with your best friend."

"What does that mean?" Paul asked confused.

"Paul, you are so blind, everyone but you know or knew that Stephanie does or did like you." Lynn stated.

"How come no one told me?" Paul whined realizing that he may have lost his shot with Stephanie.

"Because Paul, that not how love works, it happens on its own." Lynn sighed. "And obviously you missed your chance some where down the line."

"Well, what should I do then?" Paul asked with hope.

"Let her be happy, and if she means that much to you tell Chris." Lynn answered. "If he's your best friend he'll understand."

"Thanks sis." Paul replied.

"Well, I got to go baby brother I'll talk to you later." Lynn said ending things.

"Alright, bye Lynn." Paul said as he was about to hang up the phone.

"One last thing Paul." Lynn stated getting his attention. "Do what's best for the three of you. Just ask yourself who's happiness is more important to you theirs or yours." After that Lynn hung up the phone leaving Paul to think.

At Chris' House

Chris walked into the kitchen where his mom was cooking dinner. He smiled as he smelled the smell of chicken lasagna and green beans. Mrs. Jericho smiled at Chris as Chris pulled a stool over to where his mother was cooking.

"Hey mom, can I ask you something?" Chris asked eyeing the green beans.

"Ask away hunny." Mrs. Jericho said as she stirred the green beans.

"Well, you know how Steph and I have been dating for only four days right?" Chris asked watching his mom walk to the fridge.

"Yes dear, I know that." Mrs. Jericho answered taking out the watermelon.

"Well, Paul, I guess has this thing for Steph I think and Steph used to like him or she still does, I don't know, but I like Steph, just not as much as I like Trish, but Trish is seeing Brock." Chris said all at once. "What do I do?"

"Well, I don't think its right that you hold Stephanie back from being with Paul if he likes her alot." Mrs. Jericho stated cutting the watermelon into pieces. "You should find out if she still likes Paul, and if she says no, just explain to her that you like Trish and that you're sorry for leading her on."

"Why do you always no the right thing to say?" Chris smiled, he was always very open with his mom.

"Because I'm your mother that's why." Mrs. Jericho smirked. "Now you can help me finish making dinner."

At Stephanie's House

Stephanie smiled as she walked back upstairs after Trish and Stacy left. They had stayed for dinner and hung out the whole day pretty much. Now she was kind of tired, so she decided to go to bed early. She just had this weird feeling that it was going to be a long day tomorrow. As she walked into her room she headed to her dresser and opened up a drawer pulling out her pajama bottoms and tank. She set them on top of the photo album and left to use the bathroom.

When she came back she put on her bottoms and when she went to pick up her tank she knocked the photo album onto the ground. It opened to a page that caught her attention when she bent down to pick it up. Steph looked at the picture closely then realized who was in the picture. She put her tank on then ran down stairs to the den where her parents were.

"Why is Chris' mom in out family album?" Stephanie asked showing her mother the picture.

"Sweety are you sure that's Chris' mom?" Linda asked. "Because that is you father's sister."

"I'm positive, she looks just like her." Stephanie stated shock running through her body.

"Let me see that?" Vince said as Stephanie brought it to him. "That's my sister, she ran away when she was sixteen with her boyfriend, no one has seen her sense."

"Oh, I'm sorry for bugging you guys." Stephanie smiled.

"That's alright sweet heart." Vince said as he took the picture out of the album and looked at it closely. "Wait a minute."

"What Vince?" Linda asked wondering what caught Vince's attention.

"Doesn't Chris' mom have a scar on her jaw?" Vince questioned.

"Yeah, she does." Stephanie answered. "She got it when she was rough housing with her two older brothers."

"Stephanie, Sweety, um, maybe you should break things off with Chris." Vince stated his eyes never leaving the picture.

"Why daddy, I thought you liked Chris?" Stephanie questioned tears forming.

"I do, it's just, and his mom has the same bruise as my sister does for the same reason." Vince stated walking over to the shelf, pulling out a yearbook. "And if I'm right, this is her right here."

Linda and Stephanie both looked at the picture Vince was pointing to. Sure enough, it was Chris' mom. Stephanie looked up at her mother and father before she looked back down to read the last name. There it was, in black print, right next to her first name it said McMahon.

"I'm sorry baby." Vince said as he brought Stephanie into a hug. "I had no clue that she was my sister, or I would have told you.

"Wow" Was all Linda could say.

"Chris is my cousin!" Stephanie stated as her heart broke but yet she felt weird because she was dating her cousin, but she knew it wouldn't be that hard to get over Chris, knowing the fact that they only went out for four days and that he was her cousin.

That's it for this chapter. I'm open for any ideas. Please review and let me know what you think.

Citcat


	14. Before The Party

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 14: Before The Party

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea of this story and the made up characters you don't recognize as a wrestler or diva's name.

A/N: Thank you everyone who has been reviewing my story. Sorry this took so long to get up, I just haven't had time to get it up with school and everything else going on right now. Here is the next chapter.

Friday After School

Outside The Front Of The School

It had been four days since everything had happened. No one really talked to each other, well; I should say no one really talked to Stephanie. Tuesday everyone just cooled off from Monday's events and finding out that Chris was Stephanie's cousin. Wednesday Chris, Paul, Randy, Trish and Stacy talked at lunch, while Stephanie was home sick.

Everyone had settled their differences except for Randy and Stacy. They would have lunch with the gang, but would ignore each other completely. Randy was still trying his best to figure out how to get Stacy back, but everytime he tried Hayley popped up somewhere.

Now as far as Chris and Paul good, they are on good terms. There are just things that have to go away on its own, but they are not fighting. What's going on right now with the two of them is that Chris is trying to help Paul get with Stephanie. After talking things out with Paul, he found out how bad Paul really liked Stephanie.

Trish had apologized to Chris for her actions to finding out about him and Stephanie. She had sadly let Brock go. He understood, yet he was heartbroken. Trish didn't mean to hurt him the way she did, and that she was confused. Now she had Brock and Stephanie helping her get with Chris.

Back to that Wednesday at lunch when Stephanie was gone they had decided to throw Stephanie a suprise birthday party on Friday after school. Her real birthday was on Saturday. Now we are here with the whole gang including Stephanie outside the front of the school at 10:30am due to early dismissal. Chris immediately tried to get rid of Stephanie.

"So, Steph, what do you have planned today?" Chris asked with a smile. "If you don't have anything planned why don't you go hang out at the mall."

"Yeah, the mall is so fun." Stacy said all bubbly.

"Why do you guys want me to go to the mall?" Stephanie questioned. "No, I don't have anything planned."

"Then go to the skating rink." Trish chimed in.

"I can give you an extra dollar to get roller blades." Randy smirked.

"No thanks, I have my own money." Stephanie stated confused. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing at all, if you don't want to go skating or to the mall then what do you want to do?" Paul questioned giving her a smile.

"I want to go and relax." Stephanie answered raising her eyebrow.

"Stephanie!" Shane yelled as he ran over to her and picked her up throwing her over his shoulder.

"Shane, what the hell are you doing?" Stephanie laughed yet questioning him. "Put me down."

"We're going to Marissa's." Shane said walking off with her. "Thanks guys for making sure she didn't leave right away."

"No problem Shane-O." Chris yelled. "See ya Steph."

"Shane, I don't want to go to Marissa's." Stephanie whined. "Put me down."

"No can do, I promised Marissa I'd bring you over." Shane smirked. "Plus mom and dad are bombing the house to get the fleas out that Lucy brough in."

"Then I could go with Trish, Stacy, Chris, Randy, or Paul." Stephanie pouted.

"Quit whining, you're coming with me and that's final." Shane stated as Stephanie sighed as she knew she was defeated.

"Now that that is taken care of, we have to decide who gets what job." Chris said pulling out his pocket size notebook.

"What are the jobs?" Trish asked looking over Chris' shoulder.

"Well, we need someone to decorate the house, someone to pick up the cake, ice cream, and extra snacks, and someone to make the mix cd for the music."

"That's only three jobs though." Stacy stated confused.

"Well, then I guess one of us will do a job alone." Paul answered.

"Well, Paul you can be that person to do the job by yourself." Chris laughed. "You can get the cake and everything."

"I knew I'd have to be that person." Paul chuckled and walked off to do his job.

"Make sure our back before 5:00pm" Chris shouted.

"I want to decorate." Trish smiled brightly.

"Alright, Trish and I will decorate the house." Chris replied. "This leaves Randy and Stacy in charge of music."

"Um, Stacy, I'll do the music, it's no biggie." Trish smiled at Stacy.

"It's ok Trish, I'm fine with it." Stacy answered giving Trish a small smile. "Plus, I better at music then I am at decorating."

"Then I'll switch with Randy." Trish stated looking at Randy.

"It just so happens that I'm like Stacy with music and decorating." Randy smiled at Stacy, who in return looked the other way.

"Alright, well, here is the blank cd." Chris said pulling the cd out from his backpack. "It has 500 minutes on it. Make sure that you get fast and slow songs."

"Chris, look who you're talking to." Stacy smirked. "I'm the queen of music; I know what I'm doing."

"Now that everything else is taken care of, let's get to work." Chris said as him and Trish left for Stephanie's house and Stacy and Randy walked to her house to do the music.

Stacy took out her key and unlocked the door to her house. She sighed as she walked in and let Randy in. She headed upstairs as Randy shut the door behind him. He chased after her running upstairs and to her room where she was. As he walked in he was surprised to see a picture of the two of them on her nightstand, but he didn't say anything.

"Are you thirsty?" Stacy asked setting her things down on her bed and taking her shoes off.

"Yeah, I am thirsty." Randy smiled at her.

"Alright, I'll go get us some drinks." Stacy replied. "While I do that you can go through my Cds over there and start putting the songs on the computer."

"Ok" Randy answered and walked over to Stacy's wide selection of Cds.

Randy looked through the Cds and he knew there was good songs on all of them. He knew there would be. As he looked through the Cds he heard the phone ring. He smiled as he saw what he guessed to be the newest cd that she had. It was LLCoolJ's new cd 'The Definition' and it was still in the wrapper. She was always getting the new Cds right when they came out. As he grabbed a group of Cds and sat down, he couldn't help but wonder who had called.

Stacy rummaged through the fridge for something to drink. As she found to sodas the phone rang. She set the sodas down on the counter then walked over to the phone and answered it.

"Hello" Stacy answered as she took the cordless back into the kitchen.

"Hey, Stace it's me Hayley." Hayley replied.

"Oh, hi Hayley, what's up?" Stacy asked pouring a bag of chips into a bowl.

"I won't be coming home any time soon; I'm at a friend's house." Hayley said into the phone. "But I will be at Steph's in time for the party."

"Alright, I'll see you then." Stacy stated then hung up.

She sighed as she put the phone back on the hook. This was great, now she was stuck with Randy by herself for five hours. Stacy shook her head as she grabbed the drinks and chips and headed upstairs. As she walked in she saw Randy copying some music to the computer. She thought that she might as well get along with him for the sake of Stephanie's birthday.

"What songs have you put on so far?" Stacy asked handing him the soda.

"I put 'Angel' by Shaggy, 'Southside' by Lloyd and Ashanti." Chris continued. "The last one I put on was 'Ignition' by R. Kelly."

"That's good, I brought up some chips, and I think it's going to be a while until we are finished." Stacy smiled for the first time at Randy.

"Alright, if you don't mind me asking, who called?" Randy asked with a small smile.

"Oh, it was just Hayley, she won't be coming home, but she'll be at Steph's." Stacy answered grabbing some Cds and sitting next to him.

Two hours later Stacy and Randy were laughing and just having a good time as they copied the last couple songs onto the computer. They had over 300 songs that they had to burn onto the cd. After the last songs copied onto the computer, they selected all the songs and put them in order. For example they had four or five fast songs then a slow song. It went in that pattern. As Randy clicked the copy to cd button, Stacy turned on her cd player and Alicia Key's 'If I Ain't Got You' started to play.

"Well, we have three hours until the party, and the cd is going to take at least two hours." Randy stated. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." Stacy sighed looking down and thinking.

"What's wrong?" Randy asked with a frown. "You were just happy."

"Sorry, this song reminds me of…" Stacy trailed off then looked at Randy. "Us"

"Oh…, Stacy, look." Randy started but he was at a loss of words. "I'm sorry."

"That's all I've ever wanted to hear from you." Stacy stated looking him in the eyes.

"I still love you Stacy." Randy replied.

"You love me?" Stacy questioned, he had never told her that and the other way around.

"Stacy, I do love you, I…" Randy was cut off by Stacy kissing him.

"I love you too Randy." Stacy replied kissing him again.

"Stace…" Randy said then gave up as he kissed her back.

As Randy fell backwards onto Stacy's bed the both of them knew exactly how they would be spending the next couple hours.

Paul walked down the aisles with the shopping cart putting extra snacks into the cart next to the chocolate cake. The cake said 'Happy 18th Birthday Stephanie'. Paul smiled as he thought about Stephanie, and to make matters worse he bumped into Stephanie as he turned the corner. He quickly ran in front of the cart to hide the cake.

"Hey Paul, what are you doing here?" Stephanie asked as she smiled at him.

"Oh nothing just getting some extra junk food for the guys and I." Paul stated quickly. "What about you?"

"Oh, Shane insisted on getting some burritos from the deli." Stephanie smiled. "So you and the guys are having a guy's night or something."

"Yeah, a guy's night, that's it." Paul smirked as Shane walked up.

"Hey Steph who are you talking to?" Shane asked as he came up to Steph's side seeing Paul. "Oh Paul."

"Hey Shane" Paul answered panic clear in his voice.

"Well, we will be leaving now." Shane said grabbing her arm. "Bye Paul."

"Bye Paul." Stephanie smiled shaking her head as she waved to him.

As they left, Paul quickly got to the cashier and paid for everything. He couldn't waste anymore time, he might bumped into Stephanie again. After paying for everything he got into the car and headed to the McMahon's house.

Trish came running into the living room as soon as she heard a huge crash. As she came into the living room she seen Chris sitting on the floor the chair knocked over and streamers and balloons everywhere. She couldn't help but laugh at Chris.

"It's not that funny." Chris smirked at her. "The damn streamers wouldn't stay up."

"Do you want some help?" Trish laughed walking over to him.

"Are you done with the halls and outside?" Chris asked as Trish helped him up. "If you are then you can help me."

"Yeah I'm done." Trish smiled as she led Chris into the halls and the outside.

Everything was decorated perfectly and neat to. Trish had even gone over board and decorated every room except for the bedrooms and the bathroom. Chris sighed, he couldn't believe that Trish decorated everything, yet he hadn't even got one streamer to hang on the wall.

"Trish, all I have to say is wow." Chris stated as he smiled at her. "Do you feel like doing the living room?"

"Sure, I'll have it done in five minutes." Trish smirked.

"Five minutes?" Chris asked. "That's impossible."

"How much you want to bet?" Trish smirked.

"Let's put it this way, if you don't get it done in five minutes you have to…" Chris stopped to think. "You have to go out with Brainy Bobby next Friday."

"Fine, and if I get it done in five minutes you have to go out with me." Trish said quickly not quite catching what she said.

"You're on Ms. Stratus." Chris said as they shook hands.

Trish walked into the kitchen three minutes later and tapped Chris on the shoulder. He turned around to see Trish standing there with a smirk on her face. Chris shook his head not wanting to believe it, yet he did because it meant he'd get to go on a date with her. Trish took Chris by the hand and led him into the perfectly decorated living room.

"How do you do it?" Chris asked looking at Trish.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Trish smirked as she heard a car pull up.

"Looks like Paul are here." Chris said looking out the window.

"Yep along with a couple people who were invited." Trish smiled.

"One hour and counting down until the party." Chris stated as Paul walked in the door.

That's it for this chapter. I know Stephanie's birthday is really on Friday, but it worked out better for me to put it on a Saturday. I hope you liked this chapter. Please review.

Citcat


	15. Happy Birthday

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 15: Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea of this story and the made up characters you don't recognize as a wrestler or diva's name.

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a long time, I've been busy with school and family issues, but here is the next chapter. There are going to be three songs in this chapter for each pairing. It's not really long, even though it seems long by the bar that goes up and down the page.

"Come on Shane, open the door." Stephanie pouted as she stomped her foot on the ground.

"Calm down Stephie, you act like you've never been home before." Marissa laughed.

"Well, sorry that I want to go home and relax after a long day of hard work at school." Stephanie exaggerated.

"Sure, Steph, that's why you sat in the library all day long, doing nothing." Shane said turning around.

"It's not my fault I got all my work done the day before." Stephanie stated folding her arms. "Can we go inside now?"

"Go ahead, and open the door." Shane answered stepping aside.

"Fine I will." Stephanie said walking up to the door.

Stephanie looked at Shane and Marissa before she twisted the door knob. As she opened the door, she wondered why all the lights were out. She made her way to the coat rack where the light switch was and she flipped it on.

"SURPISE!" Everyone in the house yelled.

"Oh my…wow!" Stephanie said stunned. "Who set this up?"

"We all did Steph." Chris smirked pointing to Paul, Trish, Randy and Stacy. "Also Shane and Marissa were in on it too."

"Thank you so much you guys." Stephanie smiled as she went to hug them. "I knew something was up with Shane today."

"Yeah, yeah, let's get this party started." Shane shouted as he turned on the stereo which had the burnt cd already in it.

Everyone was there, even the people that weren't on good terms with one of the group of six. They were throwing Steph a party and they wanted everyone to be there even if the people weren't getting along with them. There was Miss Jackie, Charlie Hass, Gail Kim, Dave Batista, Lita, Matt and Jeff Hardy, Hayley Keibler, Calvin Stratus, Noelle Jericho, and of course the whole gang and many more.

A Couple Hours Later

"Hey have any of you two seen Randy?" Stacy asked walking up to Paul and Stephanie who were sitting on the sofa together.

"Yeah, I saw him just a few minutes ago talking to Dave." Stephanie smiled. "What's going on with you two?"

"I don't really know at the moment." Stacy answered scratching her head. "But we are on good terms."

"You must have been on good terms for this cd to come out great." Paul spoke looking at Stacy.

"Yep, well, I'll talk to you later." Stacy skipped off looking for Randy.

"Randy Orton and Stacy Keibler burnt this cd together?" Stephanie stated in shock.

"Yeah, can ya believe it?" Paul asked as Jessica Simpson's song "I Wanna Love You Forever" came on.

"No I can't." Stephanie sighed listening to the song as she looked down.

Paul was unsure of what to do as he watched Stephanie as she looked at the ground. Chris happened to walk by the two of them and gave Paul a look to ask her to dance or tell her how he feels. To his luck, Paul understood his look and he tapped Stephanie on the shoulder.

_You set my soul at ease__Chased darkness out of view__Left your desperate spell on me__Say you feel it too I know you do__I've got so much more to give__This can't die, I yearn to live__Pour yourself all over me__And I'll cherish every drop here on my knees_

"Um…Steph, do you, uh, want…to, uh…dance?" Paul stumbled with his words.

"I'd really like that." Stephanie smiled sweetly looking up at him.

_I wanna love you forever__And this is all I'm asking of you__10,000 lifetimes together__Is that so much for you to do?__Cuz from the moment that I saw your face__And felt the fire of your sweet embrace__I swear I knew__I wanna love you forever_

"So, how do you like your party so far?" Paul asked as he thought of something to say.

"It's great, I'm having a lot of fun." Stephanie answered looking into his hazel eyes.

"I know you opened all of your gifts, but I have another one for you." Paul stated as they swayed to the music.

"Paul, that sliver bracelet was enough; you didn't have to get me anything else." Stephanie smiled her eyes filled with happiness.

"It didn't cost me anything." Paul stated, "But it might if you don't like it."

"What would that be?" Stephanie asked a smirk forming on her lips.

Paul slowly took Stephanie's chin and made her face, face him. He looked her deep in her eyes before he leaned down a kissed her.

_My mind fails to understand__What my heart tells me to do__And I'd give up all I have just to be with you__And that would do__I've always been taught to win__And I never thought I'd fail__Be at the mercy of a man, __I've never been__Now I only want to be right where you are_

_I wanna love you forever__And this is all I'm asking of you__10,000 lifetimes together__Is that so much for you to do?__Cuz from the moment that I saw your face__And felt the fire of your sweet embrace__I swear I knew__I wanna love you forever_

"So, did it cost me anything?" Paul asked pulling away from her lips.

"No, it didn't. Not at all." Stephanie smiled as she kissed him again.

_In my life I've learned that heaven never waits__Let's take this now before it's gone__Like yesterday__Cuz when I'm with you there's nowhere else__That I would ever wanna be no__I'm breathing for the next second I can feel you__Loving me. I'm gonna Love_ _I wanna love you forever__And this is all I'm asking of you__10,000 lifetimes together__Is that so much for you to do?__Cuz from the moment that I saw your face__And felt the fire of your sweet embrace__I swear I knew__I wanna love you forever_

Now aside for Paul and Stephanie, Trish was sitting outside looking at the stars. She just needed to be alone for a couple minutes. There were too many people in the house and she couldn't believe how everyone could stand everyone. As she looked at the stars she picked out one special one and made a wish. A wish that Chris didn't think that the date was just two friends going out.

_Late at night when all the world is sleeping_

_I stay up and think of you_

_And I wish on a star_

_That somewhere you are thinking of me too_

_Cause I'm dreaming of you tonight_

_Till tomorrow I'll be holding you tight_

_And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be_

_Than here in my room dreaming about you and me_

Chris smiled to himself as he watched Trish sit outside looking up at the stars. He wondered what she was thinking. Little did he know he was thinking the same thing she was? Except he wasn't wishing, he was hoping. All he wanted to do is hold her in his arms and just keep her warm. He was so much in love with her that it hurt.

_Wonder if you ever see me and _

_I wonder if you know I'm there_

_If you looked in my eyes_

_Would you see what's inside would you even care_

_I just wanna hold you close but so far_

_All I have are dreams of you_

_So I wait for the day (wait for the day) _

_And the courage to say_

_How much I love you (yes I do)_

_I'll be dreaming of you tonight_

_Till tomorrow I'll be holding you tight_

_And there's nowhere in the world that I'd rather be_

_Than here in my room dreaming about you and me_

Trish looked up as the door opened and Chris walked out. He sat down next to her and looked up at the stars with her. They didn't speak any words to each other, but what they both wanted to say would have been the perfect time to say it. But neither one of them had the guts to say it at the moment. They both couldn't say "I love you" but they pictured what it would be like if they did tell each other.

_Ahhhh ash_

_I can't stop dreaming of you_

_I can't stop dreaming_

_I can't stop dreaming of you_

_Late at night when all the world is sleeping_

_I stay up and think of you_

_And I still can't believe_

_That you came up to me and said I love you_

_I love you too_

_Now I'm dreaming with you tonight_

_Till tomorrow and for all my life_

_And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be_

_Than here in my room_

_Dreaming with you endlessly_

Stacy was still running around looking for Randy. She couldn't find him anywhere. With the whole bottom floor being checked she decided to check the second floor. As she headed up the stairs she heard voices. Stacy got closer, but before she could come into view she could tell it was Hayley and Randy.

_So many times I've seen__So many people's dreams__Lost and washed away__Out to the sea, yeah_ _I said "No, not I"__Pain would surely pass me by__Happening to them, but not to me, yeah_

"Randy, just tell me why!" Hayley demanded to know why.

"Because I love your cousin," Randy stated a bit reluctant. "I love Stacy."

"Then why are you acting so unsure or is it not an act?" Hayley questioned yet again.

"I am sure, Hayley you don't know what you're talking about." Randy answered trying to end this conversation.

"Fine, if you're so sure, look me in the eye and tell me you didn't like…" Hayley trailed off with a smirk. "The kiss."

_Hearts get broken all the time__Never used to worry about things like this__But the trouble is (This time it's mine)__Now I'm worrying (This one is mine)__See the problem is the heart is mine_ _Love would be all I'd need__How naive could I be?__Trusting other people with my care, yeah_

There was a very long pause in the part of the hall. Stacy put her hand to her mouth muffle her cries. All she could do was think of how he, Randy Orton could betray her. How could he kiss Hayley, her cousin? Stacy used her hand to wipe away the tears that slipped down her face. As she did that and replayed the words in her head it all came to a click. In the beginning Randy was avoiding her because of a kiss with Hayley. Even though she didn't want to hear anything else, she had to find out everything that was happening between the two.

_Never thought I'd have to be__One of love's casualties__Up until now my belief was that love was fair_ _Hearts get broken all the time__But I never worried 'bout things like this__But the trouble is (This time it's mine)__I keep worrying (This one is mine)__See the problem is the heart is mine_

"Well…" Hayley pushed trying to get the answer out of him.

"Yes…I did like the kiss." Randy said looking her in the eye. "Are you happy now?"

"No, I'm not." Hayley smirked. "Leave Stacy and be with me."

"Hayley, just because I liked the kiss, doesn't mean I don't love Stacy." Randy replied. "I'm not going to leave her."

"Why would you want her…?" Hayley started. "When you could have me?"

_This time my heart's breaking__This time my love's failing__I'm trying hard not to be bitter now_ _I never dreamed that the broken heart would be mine_ _Hearts get broken all the time__You think its love, but it never really is__Never could imagine a thing like that (I wouldn't worry)__But the trouble is (This time it's mine)__Got me worrying (This one is mine)__See the problem is the heart is mine__This is mine, this is mine, yeah_

Stacy slid down the wall holding herself as she cried silently. Why her? Why did she have to be the one getting her heart broken? Sure she saw other people's dreams come to an end when they got their hearts broken, but never in a million years had she dreamt it would happen to her. She cried to herself thinking that it wasn't fair as she listened to the rest of the conversation.

"I want Stacy because she is the love of my life." Randy stated still a bit hesitant. "You mean and are nothing to me, but a friend."

"Oh, is that so?" Hayley questioned not believing one thing he was saying.

"Yes" Randy spoke.

"If she means so much to you," Hayley spoke her mind. "Go find her and tell her that you kissed me and you liked it."

"But you kissed me." Randy stated in defense.

"Yeah, but you kissed me back instead of pushing me off." Hayley smiled.

"I can't tell her, it would kill her if she knew." Randy frowned. "Her heart would be broken."

_Hearts get broken all the time__Never cared a doggone thing about that (I didn't worry)__But the trouble is (This time it's mine)__And the problem really is (This one is mine)__See the whole thing is the heart is mine_

"Then I guess what she doesn't know wont hurt her." Hayley stated with a smirk.

"Hayley, just leave me alone, and Stacy." Randy replied a bit upset.

"I can't promise anything, but we'll see what happens." Hayley said as she went to walk down the stairs.

_This time it's mine__This one is mine__The heart is mine_

Stacy heard Hayley coming towards the stairs, so she got up and ran down the stairs. She made her way into the downstairs bathroom. It was always her getting hurt. Why was Hayley doing this to her? Why was Randy doing this to her after everything that happened between them? All these questions kept running through her head as she cried her eyes out for the rest of the party.

_This time it's mine__This one is mine__The heart is mine_ _This time it's mine__This one is mine__The heart is mine_

That's it for this chapter. Again sorry it took so long. Any ideas are welcome, I really would like some ideas, and so I can see where you all want this story to go before graduation. Remember its still September in this story. The songs were "I Wanna Love You Forever" by Jessica Simpson, "Dreaming of You" by Selena, and "Hearts Get Broken All the Time (But the Problem Is, This Time It's Mine) by Luther Vandross. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please let me know where you'd like to see the story go. Thank you to all the reviews and please review this chapter.

Thanks

Citcat


	16. Emotions Set Free

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 16: Emotions Set Free

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except for the characters you don't recognize as WWE wrestlers or divas.

A/N: I finally updated. I have had major writers block, and I've been busy with school, family and friends. Any ideas would be really appreciated. Also thanks for all the reviews.

Monday came rather slow for most people. Randy couldn't get a hold of Stacy at all since the party. When ever he called her house Stacy's parents would answer the phone and say she wasn't home. He called her on her cell phone and all he got was her voice mail, he even called the rest of the gang and they all said that they hadn't seen her. Even though one of them lied. Randy couldn't eat or sleep at all the past weekend and he couldn't wait to talk to Stacy.

Stacy on the other hand was at home all day Saturday and she just stayed in her bedroom. She told her parents to tell anyone who called for her that she was at a friend's house. Her parents asked her why she wanted them to say that, but she simply ignored them and went upstairs. Stacy was happy not to see or hear of Hayley all weekend because she was staying at a friend's house the whole weekend. Sunday came along and Stacy went and stayed the night at Trish's house. She explained what was going on and made Trish promise not to tell a soul until she talked to Randy or figured things out for herself.

Trish couldn't be more excited during her weekend. She couldn't wait until this coming up Friday where she gets to go on her date with Chris. Her dreams were coming true, just not fast enough for her liking. The more excited she was the time seemed to go slower, and because she was so excited there wasn't much to do to take her mind off of it. Come Saturday she had a hard time listening to Stacy mourn about Randy, but she managed through with it. It also hurt her to lie to Randy, but she had to keep a promise for Stacy. It hurt when she lied to Randy because he is like a brother to her, just like Paul is like a brother to her and Stacy and Steph are like sisters to her.

Chris had the same situation as Trish, except he wasn't that excited to where he would die. He had a simple plan to keep his mind off of this coming up Friday. His plan was to hang out with Dave Batista and Charlie Hass on Saturday, which he did. They hung out at the mall and did what guys normally do at the mall. Sunday came along and he spent the whole day with his family. They all stayed at home and did things together. They ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together. Also they played family board games, watched movies and t.v and whatever else you could name off that families do together. Yet everything still managed to go slow and seem like it would never become Monday.

Paul and Stephanie couldn't have been any happier over the weekend. That's why their weekend went by real fast. Stephanie was on the phone with Paul for hours on end on Saturday because he was out in Hartford, Connecticut visiting his grandparents. Which his grandparents were happy to know that he had a girlfriend. Everyone was finally happy to see the two together. Paul got back Sunday morning at around 2:00 in the morning. When he was fully awake he called up Stephanie and they spent the whole day together. They were upset when it was time for them to go home though.

Third period which was History for Randy and Stacy. Randy showed up just as the bell rang. He was hoping that Stacy would be there because he hadn't seen her all day and Trish said that Stacy was in class first period. He also found out from Paul on the way to third period that Stacy was there for second period. She had to be there. As he took his seat he looked around and found no sign of Stacy. Where was she? He knew she was here today even though he hadn't seen her.

Trish couldn't stop staring at Chris all third period during math. She would have usually sat by Chris today but the teachers assigned them to groups of four. Chris was paired with John Cena, Torrie Wilson, and Dave Batista. She couldn't help but laugh at how the three were more concerned about talking about what they did Saturday then their project. Trish didn't see how Torrie was even able to get them to work.

She on the other hand was stuck working with Jackie Gayda, who wouldn't stop asking questions about Paul. Then there was Kurt Angle, who would bring Stephanie up in everything he did. Lastly she was paired with Hayley Kiebler, which she wasn't happy with at the moment and Hayley just kept quiet.

In Ms. Kelso's third period science class, Stephanie couldn't stop laughing, blushing, and smiling. They were doing a lab project, and none other then Paul Levesque was Stephanie's partner. Paul smirked as he pretended to be really dumb and was about to put the wrong formula in the bottle. Stephanie stopped him just in time. They finally made a deal, that when Paul did something right, she would give him a kiss. So, Paul started to act right, even though he still acted stupid to make her laugh.

It was lunch time and Stacy sat on the steps outside the school's entrance. She had so much on her mind that she needed to get away from all the people. She knew it was wrong, but she skipped third period. The thought of even seeing Randy at the moment made her heart break more and more. Thinking she was all alone she heard the doors open. Stacy turned around and saw Randy walking towards her with a smile on his face. She turned her head away from Randy. This was it, it was time to talk to him.

"I missed you in third period today and all weekend." Randy stated sitting down next to her and went to kiss her on the cheek but she moved. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"Randy, can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me with everything in your heart that…" Stacy turned to look at him tears in her eyes. "You love me."

"Of course I can, Stace." Randy stated as he went to wipe her tears away she slapped his hand away. "Where are you heading with this?"

"Don't lie to me Randy." Stacy said standing up. "Why the hell didn't you tell me that you kissed Hayley in the first place?"

"She told you?" Randy choked.

"Yeah, maybe she did, but you were the one who said that…" Stacy was getting angry and upset. "You liked it."

"You…" Randy was too shocked to finish his sentence.

"Yeah, I heard it all Randy. Every last detail. You wouldn't believe how bad I wanted it all to be a dream. I was hoping and praying that someone would come and wake me up. Damn, Randy was I not enough for you. I gave myself to you and you didn't have the nerve to tell me that you kissed her." Stacy yelled tears streaming down her face. "Was I not good enough for you? Does she have something that I don't have? Please Randy let me know because you're obviously into her more then you are me."

"Stace, she means nothing to me." Randy pleaded.

"That's bull Randy, and you know it. If she didn't mean anything to you then you wouldn't have kissed her. You would have told me she came on to you and that you kissed her. Randy, you would have told her that you loved me with out hesitation, but you didn't." Stacy cried her heart out as Randy sat there and listened. "Randy, you broke my dreams, goals, and most of all you broke my heart. I can forgive you for breaking my dreams, because dreams are things you want, and I know I have more dreams coming my way. I can forgive you for breaking my goals. It may not seem like your breaking my goals, but you are. My goal was to become your one and only as long as I could and it didn't even last for a steady three or four weeks. I know I can get my goals back, because they are like dreams. But Randy, I can't forgive you for breaking my heart over and over again like you are doing now. I only have one heart and you've torn it out of my chest, threw it around and stomped on it like I was a piece of trash." Stacy cried letting her emotions run free.

"Stacy, I'm sorry." Randy tried walking up to her, but to have her back away from him.

"Save it Randy, because I'm through with you for good." Stacy said walking to the entrance doors. "Maybe, after a while we can hang out like we used to when we were friends, but we'll never date again as long as my last name is Keibler."

"So, we're not friends anymore?" Randy questioned before she walked through the door.

"No, we are still friends, it's just going to take me a while to get back that trust I had in you." Stacy said as she walked back inside and out of Randy's life for the time being.

Stephanie sat in the students lounge during lunch working on her math homework, when she felt someone sit down next to her. She looked up and saw Paul sitting next to her with a smile on his face.

"What are you smiling about?" Stephanie asked as she shut her math book.

Well…" Paul smirked as he pulled Stephanie into his arms. "I got an awesome idea."

"What is this awesome idea you have?" Stephanie asked as she began to smile to.

"Well, Halloween is just around the corner and I thought we should have a costume party." Paul stated.

"A costume party huh?" Stephanie smiled as she rested in his arms. "I like the sound of that."

"A couple's costume party." Paul started. "You can't get in unless you have a date."

"What about the singles?" Stephanie questioned.

"Well, if they want to come they can ask someone." Paul said. "I mean, the gang is all set."

"What do you mean?" Stephanie continued with her questions. "Trish is still single."

"Yeah, for now." Paul said getting a werid look from Steph. "Trish and Chris have a date this coming up Friday and we all know that's going to go well and then there is Randy and Stacy who seemed to be very happy together at the party." Little did they know Randy and Stacy just broke up.

"Well, I guess we better start planning for this party." Stephanie smirked kissing Paul.

"Looks like it's just the two of us for lunch today." Chris smirked.

"Yeah, I wonder where everyone else is." Trish lied, she was happy it was just the two of them.

"Well, what do ya want to do?" Chris asked as the two roamed the halls.

"I don't know, I'm having fun just being with you." Trish blushed.

"Aww Trish, you made me blush." Chris smiled at her giving her a hug.

"Don't mention it." Trish giggled.

"Since it's just the two of us, I'll just tell you now." Chris stated.

"Tell me what?" Trish asked leaning against the lockers.

"I'm really excited about this coming up Friday." Chris smiled. "I'm also hoping that it's not just two friends going to hang out."

"Chris I fell exactly the same way." Trish smiled as she hugged him.

"Why are we waiting for Friday then?" Chris asked with a grin.

"I don't know." Trish smiled.

"How about after school, we go catch a movie as a date?" Chris questioned.

"I'd love that." Trish smiled biting her lip.

"Perfect." Chris smiled as the bell rang for 5th period.

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please, any ideas are welcome and I'll see what I can do with them. I want to know how you want to see the story turn out so let me hear your ideas. Thanks for reading and please review.

Citcat


	17. The Movie And A Scare

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 17: The Movie and a Scare

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the names you don't recognize as wrestlers or divas.

A/N: Thank you to all the people who reviewed my story. It really means a lot to me. I'm sorry for not updating, I am just finding it hard to put my ideas down, but hopefully this chapter turns out good. Please review and thanks again to all the people who reviewed. Also to Icy Rabbit, John Cena rapped about Torrie on the Thanksgiving special Smackdown, if I remember correctly.

After school Stephanie sat on the bleachers watching Paul practicing some football plays with the rest of the team. She bit her lip as he looked up and smiled at her. She smiled back and went back to reading her book. After an hour of practice the guys went in to shower and change. Before Paul went to shower Stephanie told him she would meet him at her locker. He kissed her and they went in different directions.

Paul went and showered and got changed. He was standing there with only his jeans on when he heard someone banging a gym locker open and closed. Paul walked around the corner and saw Randy sitting on the bench with his head in his hands still in his basketball outfit that he played basketball in.

"Hey man, what's up with you?" Paul asked concerned for his friend.

"It's over man." Randy looked up at Paul.

"Are you crying?" Paul questioned seeing Randy cry for the first time.

"She hates me, it's over for good, and she never wants to talk to me." Randy went on and on.

"What are you talking about?" Paul was very confused by now.

"Stacy, she found out that I kissed Hayley." Randy said as he banged his head against the locker.

"You kissed Hayley?" Paul was shocked. "Hayley Keibler, Stacy's cousin!"

"Cut the wound even more why don't ya." Randy said with anger.

"Sorry Randy, so, what happened?" Paul asked.

Randy told Paul about how Randy and Stacy's first break up happened. Then he went on and told him everything that happened with Hayley and Stacy. By the time he got to the part when Stacy told him how he hurt her he was in tears and no one was in the guy's locker room, but the two of them.

"I love her so much." Randy cried.

"Randy, if you loved her, why did you kiss Hayley?" Paul asked.

"I kissed Hayley, because I was scared." Randy proclaimed. "I have never in my whole dating history, ever felt this way about any girl and I panicked."

"You really do love her." Paul said as he patted him on the back.

"Yeah, but I don't know what to do." Randy sighed.

"Man, you just need to let time do its thing." Paul said standing up. "Date other people during this time apart, and if it's meant to be it will happen."

"Since when did you become an expert on dating?" Randy asked feeling a little bit better.

"Since now." Paul smirked as he put his shirt on and gathered his stuff.

"Can we keep this just between us for now?" Randy asked. "I don't want everyone to know."

"Yeah, no problem man." Paul said as he was about to walk out the locker room.

"That includes not telling Steph." Randy stated.

"You have my word." Paul said and walked out to go meet Stephanie

Stephanie stood by her locker for about 20 minutes now. Paul had told her it should have only taken him 10 minutes to get showered. She started to wonder what was taking him so long when Adam walked up to her.

"Hey Ms. McMahon" Adam Copeland smiled walking up to Stephanie.

"Hi Adam." Stephanie smiled. "Do you know what's taking Paul so long?"

"Nope, I left when he got into the shower." Adam answered. "Why?"

"I'm waiting for him, he said he wouldn't be long." Stephanie replied.

"Are you waiting to get a ride home, because I can give you one?" Adam smiled his amazing smile.

"No thanks, Paul and I have plans." Stephanie smiled back.

"Oh, okay, are you two like dating now?" Adam wondered aloud.

"Well, yeah we are." Stephanie glowed. "Enough about me, what about you?"

"What about me?" Adam eyed Stephanie.

"How are things with you and Nidia?" Stephanie asked.

"Oh, we're just friends, the dance wasn't one of the best times." Adam spoke.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Stephanie said with sympathy. "I'm sure you'll find someone."

"Like I found Stephanie." Paul smiled walking up to Adam and Stephanie and putting an arm around Stephanie.

"Yeah, maybe I will find her someday." Adam said as he frowned a little at Paul and Steph.

"Hey, don't frown, for all you know, you probably already found her." Stephanie smiled at Adam. "You just don't know that it's her yet."

"You know Steph, I think I already found her and I do know it's her." Adam smiled again as he stared Stephanie in the eyes.

"Well, we better get going if we want to plan this party." Paul said nudging Stephanie towards the exit.

"We're throwing a Halloween party." Stephanie stated. "Talk to this girl and bring her with you."

"Yeah, Copeland, the only way you get in is if you have a date." Paul said.

"We better be leaving now, it's getting late." Stephanie said looking at her watch. "Bye Adam."

Paul and Stephanie left Adam standing there watching after Stephanie. He stood there for a good 10 minutes before he answered out loud to Stephanie's last statement about talking to 'the girl' and inviting her to the party.

"I do know it's her, if only she wasn't hosting the party with her boyfriend." Adam smirked as he ran his hand down Stephanie's locker then left.

Trish smiled as she walked inside her house after getting off from work. She looked and felt like she was floating on cloud 9. Nothing could bring her down today. In just a few hours Chris would be picking her up for the movies. That's when it hit her, she had no clue what to wear. She began to panic, but she didn't know why. Trish had hung out with Chris before one on one, but that was different. It wasn't a date like it was now. She needed help picking out an outfit, so she called Stacy for help.

"Hello?" Stacy answered her home phone.

"Hey girl, it's me Trish." Trish spoke to Stacy who was on speaker phone in her bedroom.

"What's up?" Stacy asked grabing her jacket.

"I need your help picking out an outfit for me." Trish stated as she held a top to her chest. "Too pink."

"Uh, Trish, I can't." Stacy responded. "I was just about to leave."

"Okay, that's alright." Trish frowned. "I'll try Steph."

"Thanks for not getting upset." Stacy said, and then hung up after saying goodbye.

She sighed as she tossed a skirt onto her bed. She had gone through half her closet when she was talking to Stacy. Sitting down, Trish called Stephanie.

"Hello, Stephanie speaking." Stephanie giggled into the phone.

"Hi Steph, it's me Trish." Trish smiled with hope. "You seem happy."

"That's because I am." Stephanie smiled. "What do you need?"

"Well, I need help picking out an outfit for tonight." Trish stated going through the rest of her clothes.

"What… Paul stop it." Stephanie laughed into the phone. "Sorry, what is the outfit for?"

"Paul with you?" Trish sighed, she knew Steph would say she couldn't help.

"Yeah, were going over some things and he wont stop…" Stephanie laughed as she swatted Paul. "Tickling me and acting dumb."

"Oh, sounds like you're having a good time." Trish stated. "You know, I just found the perfect outfit, I don't need your help anymore."

"Are you sure?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah, are you sure Trish?" Paul yelled.

"I'm positive, have fun Steph." Trish laughed.

"Alrighty then, bye Trish." Steph said as they hung up.

Trish took a deep breath. She had lied about finding the perfect outfit. The only reason for the lie was because Stephanie sounded like she was having a good time and she didn't want to ruin it for her. Trish sighed as she started to cry. She looked up tears streaming down her face when she heard a knock on her open door. There stood her brother Calvin.

"What do you want Calvin?" Trish spoke wiping her eyes and looking away from him.

"Why are you crying?" Calvin asked. He could be cruel at times, but also really sweet to his sister.

"I have a date tonight and I don't know what to wear." Trish sighed yet again.

"Let me guess, with Chris?" Calvin laughed.

"Yes, and I've gone through everything." Trish said throwing some of her clothes on the floor.

"Let me help you." Calvin said picking up a shirt.

"You help me?" Trish questioned. "What's in it for you?"

"Nothing, I just want to see my sister happy." Calvin smiled. "And because Chris is the coolest alive."

"I knew there was some reason for you helping me." Trish smiled.

After about 45 minutes, Trish stood standing in front of her full length mirror wearing a black satin wavy skirt with a baby blue pastel low cut blouse. She had on black heels, with a pastel baby blue anklet on her right ankle. She couldn't believe that her brother picked all this stuff out. The shocking thing was that she had tossed these articles of clothing aside. She turned and smiled at her brother.

"Thanks for helping me little brother." Trish smiled with happiness.

"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it to anyone though." Calvin said stepping out the room. "If you tell, it could ruin my reputation."

"Whatever Calvin." Trish laughed as Calvin left.

Stacy sighed as she walked through the park alone. She really needed some space and time to breath. With everything going on with Randy, Hayley, and just everything in general, it was becoming too much for her. Stacy kicked a rock as she walked out of the park and into the local convenient store. Gail, one of the clerks who noticed Stacy walk in waved and smiled at her. Stacy of course smiled back as she headed to an aisle in the back.

"Where are they?" Stacy asked herself as she scanned the shelves.

"Can I help you Miss?" An employee asked her with a smile.

"No, just looking around." Stacy smiled as the employee left.

After looking for a good ten minutes she finally found it. She smiled with a sigh as she grabbed the item and headed to the cash register. When she got up there, the only line that was open was Gail's line. She swallowed a lump in her throat and went to Gail's line.

"Is this all for you Stacy?" Gail smiled as she rang the item up not noticing what the item was.

"Yes, that's all." Stacy answered, it seemed like it was taking forever.

"Stacy?" Gail gave her a look.

"What?" Stacy asked sweat coming from her forehead.

"Are you feeling okay, you don't look to good?" Gail asked as she put the item in a bag.

"I'm just fine." Stacy stated shaking her head quickly.

"The total comes to 4.63." Gail smiled as Stacy handed her the money.

"Bye Gail." Stacy said as she grabbed the bag quickly and took off.

Chris looked at his watch for the tenth time since he had gotten to work. He worked at a movie rental place. It was going as slow as ever. He wanted time to go by quicker so her could leave and pick up Trish after he changed. Chris shook his head as he looked at one of his co-workers checking in the returned movies.

"Can't we just leave?" Chris whined. "No one is going to come in here, Marci."

"Hey, never doubt anything." Marci smiled at Chris. "Why are you in such a hurry to leave anyway?"

"No reason." Chris responded leaning on the counter.

"Sure, you can't fool me Chris." Marci laughed. "I bet you have a date."

"Maybe." Chris laughed.

"Let me guess…" Marci stated as she stood up and looked at him with a smile. "You have a date with Trish, don't you?"

"How did you know?" Chris asked. "I never told you that I had a date with her."

"I heard you talking to James earliar today." Marci smirked.

"I thought you weren't an eavesdropper." Chris stated firmly.

"I didn't eavesdrop, I just happened to be walking by." Marci smiled as a customer walked in. "Help them and then I'll cover for you."

"Thanks Marci, it really means a lot." Chris smiled at her as she walked out from behind the counter to put the returned movies back.

"So, Marci likes you?" The customer laughed.

"Paul, shut up." Chris shook his head. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to rent a few horror movies." Paul said looking around the place.

"You know where they are." Chris told Paul.

"Well, that's a nice way to treat your customers." Paul responded.

"Come on." Chris laughed as he led Paul to the horror section. "Why horror movies?"

"Oh, Steph and I are throwing a Halloween party, we need some ideas." Paul smirked as he picked up a couple of the movies.

"You need ideas?" Chris question with an eyebrow raised. "Or is this your way of getting Stephanie into your arms?"

"Both, even though I don't need movies to get her in my arms." Paul smiled.

"Sure." Chris said as they went to the front counter and Chris rang up the movies. "That'll be 24.35."

Paul paid Chris the money and grabbed the movies and left. Chris laughed as he watched Paul walk out. Paul had walked right into the door before leaving and Chris thought it was funny. He went into the back and grabbed his stuff and headed for the door when Marci caught up with him.

"You leaving now?" Marci asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm leaving now." Chris said. "Thanks for looking out for me."

"Anytime." Marci smiled as Chris left.

Randy sighed as he walked home after his talk with Paul. Maybe Paul was right. Maybe he should date other people and if it was meant for he and Stacy to be together then it would happen, even if it was sooner or later. He just hoped it was sooner. Randy couldn't help but thinking of that saying. "You never know what you've got, until it's gone". He shook his head as he walked by Stacy's house. He so badly wanted to talk to Stacy, or just to hold her, but he knew that was a long shot.

After passing Stacy's house and a couple other houses he finally got to his house. He walked inside and his baby sister ran over to him.

"Randy" Shawna, his three year old sister screamed.

"Hey, you excited to see me?" Randy asked picking his sister up.

"Guess what?" Shawna smiled bubbly.

"I don't know, what?" Randy smiled.

"I tied my shoes." Shawna exclaimed kicking her foot up in the air for him to see.

"You tied your shoes all by yourself?" Randy asked enthusiastically.

"Yep, just like you taught me." Shawna smiled as she hugged Randy. "I love you big brother."

"I love you too baby sister." He said hugging his sister and then setting her down as she ran off.

Randy felt better about himself. His sister made him feel like he wasn't all that bad of a guy. He was so happy that Shawna learned to tie her shoe the way he taught her. It had a good feeling to it. Randy walked into the living room with a smile on his face and he sat down on the sofa. With the phone starting to ring, he leaned over and answered it.

"Hello?" Randy asked as it was quiet on the other end. "Hello?"

"Oh, sorry." She spoke. "Can I speak to Randy?"

"This is he speaking." Randy stated confusment in his voice.

"Hi, it's me Terri." Terri spoke from the other line.

"Terri?" Randy questioned. "Uh, how are you?"

"I'm fine, what about you?" Terri smiled into the phone.

"I'm good, um, why did you call?" Randy asked trying his best not to make that question sound rude.

"Well, I saw you and Stacy get into that fight and I thought maybe you'd need a friend." Terri said into the phone.

"I didn't expect for you to be comforting to me." Randy stated honestly.

"Why not?" Terri asked disappointment in her voice.

"Nothing against you, it's just…" Randy stopped as Terri finished his sentence.

"That you didn't expect me to be so forgiving after you cheated on me." Terri stated into the phone. "I'm over that Randy, you were drunk and you made a mistake."

"Then why did you call it quits?" Randy asked his ex girlfriend.

"We were young, and plus I didn't believe you were actually drunk at the time." Terri answered. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

"Obviously, Stacy doesn't think that." Randy stated. "I didn't kiss Hayley on purpose."

"If Stacy can't see that, then you're better off without her." Terri spoke.

"You really think so?" Randy questioned.

"Yes, I really think so." Terri answered. "You said yourself that it wasn't intentional."

"Do you want to go get a slice of pizza and talk?" Randy shocked himself by asking Terri if she wanted to get some pizza.

"Sure, and then we can finish this talk." Terri smiled.

"Alright, I'll meet you at Al's Pizza in 20 minutes?" Randy questioned.

"I'll be there." Terri said.

"Thanks for listening to me moan on an on about Stacy." Randy stated before hanging up.

"Hey, no thanking me" Terri answered. "That's what friends are for."

"Bye Terri." Randy chuckled as he hung up the phone then got ready to go have some pizza.

Trish laughed at another one of Chris' jokes as they stood in line at the movie theater. They hadn't even barely started the date and she already felt like she was having the best time ever. She blushed with a smile as Chris wrapped an arm around her waist. She couldn't believe this was happening.

Chris smiled again as he got Trish to laugh yet again. He loved her laugh. It always made him want to make her laugh again. Slowly he slipped his arm around her waist not sure what she would do. When he didn't feel himself get slapped he knew she was okay with it and he continued to make her laugh.

"Stop, you're going to make me cry." Trish laughed harder.

"Am I that bad at telling jokes that I make you cry?" Chris questioned with a smirk.

"No, they're just too funny." Trish giggled as they came to the window to pay for the movie.

After Chris paid for the movie they walked inside and went and got a bucket of popcorn and two drinks. Chris paid for that then they headed into the theater and got their seats. The movie hadn't started yet, so they decided to talk. Chris, being the charmer he is spoke first.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" Chris asked.

"Yes you have." Trish blushed again.

"How many times?" Chris wondered.

"I don't know, maybe about 100 times." Trish smiled. "Maybe even more."

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure you knew." Chris smiled at her.

"I know." Trish blushed.

"If this date goes well…" Chris got cut off.

"It is going well." Trish spoke.

"Okay, then you wouldn't mind going to Stephanie's and Paul's Halloween party with me?" Chris questioned with a smile. "It's a couple's only party."

"Oh, well, I would have gone with you even if it wasn't a couple's only party." Trish stated as Chris smiled at her as the movie started.

Stacy walked around her bedroom impatiently for five minutes. She still had another five minutes to go. It seemed like the first five minutes took five hours to go by. It was just her in the house ever since she got home. Her parents were out for dinner and Hayley was at a friend's house again. Ever since Hayley found out that Stacy knew about the Randy thing, Hayley stayed as far away as possible from Stacy. The phone started to ring which startled Stacy. She walked over to her night stand by her bed and she sat down then answered it. It was one of her friends Alyse.

"Hey Stacy." Alyse spoke into the phone.

"Hi Alyse, what's up?" Stacy asked.

"Nothing much, I saw you running home earliar and I just wanted to know why." Alyse answered.

"I had to hurry and get home because I left the oven on." Stacy lied.

"Oh, okay, I thought something was wrong." Alyse stated.

"Nope, well, I have to go, someone is knocking on the door." Stacy lied yet again.

"Okay, bye Stacy.

Stacy hung up the phone and looked at the timer. She still had three minutes left to wait. She walked downstairs slowly and went into the kitchen. She made herself a t.v. dinner from the freezer. She also grabbed a glass of water and then headed back upstairs. Stacy set her food and drink down on her desk and looked at the timer. It was counting down 30 seconds. Now it seemed the 30 seconds were taking longer then the five minutes had taken. Soon the buzzer went off and Stacy ran into the bathroom.

"This is it Stacy." She told herself.

Stacy slowly picked up the pregnancy test and flipped it over slowly. She sighed then took a deep breath and looked at the results that were on the test.

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked this chapter. I made it longer as to make up for lost time. Hopefully, I'll be able to update again soon.

Citcat


	18. Al's Pizza

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 18: Al's Pizza

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the names you don't recognize as wrestlers or divas.

A/N: Thank you to all the people who reviewed my story. It really means a lot to me. I'm sorry for not updating, I am just finding it hard to put my ideas down, but hopefully this chapter turns out good. Please review and thanks again to all the people who reviewed.

"Stacy are you in there?" A knock came from her door. It was her dad.

"Uh, yeah I am." Stacy answered looking at the test results.

"Can I come in?" Mr. Keibler asked.

"Just a second." Stacy hurried to hide the test, she couldn't let her father know she had had sex, it would upset him a lot.

"Stacy?" Stacy's father questioned.

"Yeah dad?" Stacy asked as she opened the door.

"I just wanted to let you know that your mother and I are home from dinner." He spoke and looked at her.

"Okay, thanks." Stacy smiled.

"Can we talk Stacy?" Mr. Keibler asked his only daughter.

"Sure, what about?" Stacy said letting him in her bedroom.

"What's going on with you and Hayley, it's like she doesn't live here anymore." Hayley's uncle and Stacy's dad asked.

"You really want to know?" Stacy sighed as he father nodded. "I'll make it short."

"Go on." He motioned her to speak.

"Hayley and Randy kissed, while we were dating, and now I'm not on speaking terms with either of them." Stacy spoke the truth. "I guess Hayley is afraid of me now."

"So that's why I haven't seen or heard of Mr. Orton in a while." Mr. Keibler responded.

"Yeah, well you won't be seeing him for a long long time." Stacy stated still a bit upset.

"Have you talked to him about it?" Stacy's father asked.

"Yes, I have." Stacy answered.

"Stacy Keibler, did you let him talk and explain or did you do all the talking?" Mr. Keibler asked his daughter.

"I did the talking." Stacy replied thinking over that moment with Randy.

"That's what I thought." Mr. Keibler shook his head.

"Well, it's over and done with, he's out of my romance life." Stacy stated trying not to let the tears she had.

"Are you two still friends at least?" He questioned.

"Yeah, it's just going to take me a while to talk and trust him again." Stacy answered with honest words.

"Okay, if ya ever need to talk, I'm here for you baby girl." Mr. Keibler said giving her a hug.

"Thanks daddy." Stacy smiled, she really need to talk to someone.

Chris Jericho and Trish Stratus walked around the park. It was beautiful outside and the stars were shinning perfectly. For the both of them, the night couldn't get any better.

"I've had a lot of fun tonight." Trish blushed, everything was like a dream.

"Me too, I'm hoping maybe I could take you out again sometime." Chris smiled shyly.

"I was hoping you'd ask." Trish bit her lip as she smiled a smile that never went away since Chris picked her up.

"I was hoping you'd say yes." Chris smiled as he took her hand in his as they walked.

"I feel like a little girl getting that Barbie doll I've always wanted." Trish beamed.

Chris smiled at Trish as she spoke. He thought it was cute how she thought that. He couldn't help but stare at her, he thought she was beautiful. He wondered what she would do if he kissed her right now.

"Trish?" Chris asked looking at her.

"Yeah?" Trish asked looking at him.

Their eyes locked when they looked at each other. Each of them wanting this moment to last forever, and not wanting it to go away. The stars were shinning and the moon was glowing off of their faces. Everything was perfect. The moment was perfect for that perfect first kiss. Ring, ring, ring. Just when the moment was about to happen, it's ruined in an instant.

"Sorry" Trish spoke grabing her phone from her pursue.

Trish pulled out her phone and began to speak on it. A few minutes later Trish was in tears. Chris looked at her and wrapped Trish into a hug, rocking her gently. After a few more minutes Trish was off of the phone.

"Chris, can ya drive me to the hospital?" Trish cried leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Chris asked as they quickly went back to the car.

"It's my brother, he got hit by a drunk driver walking with some friends to a friend's house."

"Damn, come on, let's get there." Chris answered as they both got into the car a sped off.

Stephanie yawned as she looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearing 11:00 p.m. She looked over at Paul with a smile.

"I think we should call it quits, it's almost 11:00." Stephanie yawned again standing up and stretching.

"Is my princess tired?" Paul questioned standing up and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Yeah, I am." Stephanie gave him a sleepy smile.

Paul smirked as he picked Stephanie up in his arms. She giggled as he carried her up the stairs and to her bedroom. As he walked into her bedroom he headed over to her bed. He gently laid her down on the bed. She was already in her pajamas because she had changed, while he rented the movies. Her blankets were already at the bottom of her bed because she forgot to make it earliar that day. After laying her down he pulled the blanket up over her shoulders.

"Thank you." Stephanie yawned her eyes almost closing. "You can let yourself out, right?"

"Yeah, I can, you get your sleep now." Paul smiled at her as he kissed her forehead. "Goodnight princess."

"Goodnight prince charming." Stephanie smiled as her eyes shut.

Smiling Paul walked over to the bedroom door and turned around to look at her once more. He shut the light off then shut the door gently behind him. Paul then proceeded to the front door, where he was stopped by Vince McMahon.

"You leaving now Paul?" Vince questioned.

"Yeah, thanks for having me over." Paul smiled.

"No thanks needed, you're one of Stephanie's best friends and now boyfriend." Vince stated. "You can come over anytime you'd like and leave when ever."

"Thanks Mr. McMahon." Paul spoke.

"Like I've said to all of you kids, you can all call me Vince and goodnight Paul." Vince said as Paul walked out the car and to his car.

Randy took a bite of this 3rd slice of pizza. He smiled as he and Terri talked about old times. When they first got to Al's Pizza, it was a bit awkward. They both didn't know where to start the conversation off, so Terri asked Randy to tell her about this whole Stacy situation and he did so. That's how they got to where they were now.

"I still can't believe that I had the worst of luck that day." Randy laughed. "It was so embarrassing that my pants ripped when I was meeting your parents."

"Oh, you weren't the only one embarrassed for yourself." Terri giggled. "My mom was completly red when she heard the rip sound."

"Those were some good times." Randy smiled. "Whatever happened?"

"You got drunk and by the time I was ready to forgive and forget you were hooked on Stacy." Terri answered truthfully.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Randy stated sadly.

"Don't be sorry, it was fun while it lasted." Terri smiled. "We've both moved on."

"What if we hadn't?" Randy asked.

"Honestly, we might have gotten back together," Terri shrugged. "I don't know."

"Maybe" Randy smiled as he took his last sip of his coke. "We better get going."

"Yeah, it is getting late." Terri replied looking at her watch which read 11:16pm.

"I'll walk you to your car." Randy stated holding the door open for her.

"Thank you Mr. Orton." Terri giggled.

Stacy watched as Randy and Terri walked out of Al's Pizza. She knew Randy would be there, because she had called his house wanting to talk feeling she left things unsaid, and that he needed to explain. So, when his mom answered Stacy asked where he was and his mom told her and that's why Stacy was here now. She didn't expect Terri to be here at all. That was what shocked her the most. She wondered if they were together again. That would kill her to see those two together, just like it did when they first started dating. As she watched him walk her to the car she had to find out what was going on. So, getting out of her car she ran up to Terri and Randy.

"Randy, there you are, your mom said I could find you here." Stacy said with a smile. "Hi Terri."

"Hi Stacy." Terri smiled at Stacy and then looked at Randy. "I'll let you two talk, see you later Randy, bye Stacy." Terri then got in her car and drove off.

After Terri left, it was somewhat silent between Randy and Stacy. Stacy didn't know where to begin, she had so many questions running through her head, but Randy broke that silence.

"I thought you weren't speaking to me?" Randy asked as he leaned against the building.

"Randy, I was thinking, and I realized I didn't really give you the chance to talk and explain yourself." Stacy answered the truth coming from her mouth.

"I don't feel like explaining right now Stacy." Randy stated firmly. "You can't just walk up to me when you feel like it and want me to explain."

"You don't want to explain, because you're dating her again aren't you." Stacy spat as those words split from her mouth.

"Dating Terri again!" Randy was shocked. "You really think I'd date Terri again, right after we broke up, we're just friends."

"Oh, sorry." Stacy wasn't sure what to say. "I just want to talk to you."

"I don't feel like talking to you right now, it's late and I'm tired." Randy spoke walking towards his car. "I'll talk to you some other time."

"No, I want to talk now!" Stacy demanded, she didn't want to let him get away that easy. If she did, she might lose him to Terri.

"Goodnight Stacy." Randy answered putting his key in the door to unlock it.

"No, we NEED to talk now!" Stacy demanded again.

Randy turned to Stacy and looked at her like she was crazy. Did she not know it was way past 11:00pm and that he was tired? What did he need to do to get that through her head?

"Stacy, I said, I don't want to talk to you right now!" Randy growled about to get into his car.

"Randy, we need to talk now because…" Stacy wasn't sure if he was listening.

"Because…" Randy looked at her oddly.

"Because you're about to be a father in nine months!" Stacy screamed.

That's it for this chapter, I hope you all liked it and thanks for reading. Please review and more is coming soon. Any ideas for Chris and Trish please, I'm running short on ideas for them so they don't seem like a normal and boring everyday couple with all the mushy couple stuff.

Citcat


	19. No Happy Ending Today

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 19: No Happy Ending Today

Disclaimer: Sorry for the long delay of this chapter. When I think writers block is gone, it always comes back. I hope this chapter turns out enjoyable for all of you that read this. Please review. All ideas are welcome weather they are good or bad. Please review and thanks for EVERYONE that has reviewed my story. Sorry it took so long.

Chris and Trish ran into the hospital. When they ran in they seen Trish's family and Brock Lesnar sitting in the waiting room. Trish looked at Chris then looked at Brock. What was he doing here? Chris also noticed Brock and he wondered if Trish and Brock still had a small fling going on. Brock noticed Trish and he stood up and walked over to her.

"Hey Trish" Brock said as he reached Trish.

"What are you doing here?" Trish asked as she looked at her parents then to Brock.

"Calvin got hit near my house." Brock stated. "I was on my way home from work and I saw him lying in the road."

"How is he?" Trish asked as she took a hold of Brock's hand.

Chris noticed how Trish took a hold of Brock's hands and he had to admit, he did get jealous. Why was Trish holding Brock's hand? She should be holding his hand. Chris was about to say something when a doctor walked into the waiting room.

"Anyone here for Calvin Stratus?" The doctor spoke.

"Yes, we are his family" Mr. Stratus answered as everyone gathered around.

"Calvin is going to be perfectly fine, we just had to give him a blood transplant and he has a broken arm." The doctor continued. "If he wasn't brought in when he was, he wouldn't have made it."

"Can we see him?" Mrs. Stratus asked.

"Yes, right this way ma'am." The doctor said leading Mrs. Stratus to Calvin's room.

When Mr. and Mrs. Stratus were gone down the hall, Trish turned and looked at Brock and Chris standing behind her. Her eyes were watery after hearing the news about her brother. If it wasn't for Brock, Calvin could have died. Brock saved her little brother's life. Trish ran over to Brock and hugged him.

"Thank you so much Brock." Trish stated. "You saved my brother's life"

"You're welcome Trish." Brock smiled knowing Calvin was okay.

"What can I do to repay you?" Trish asked as she looked at Brock.

"Trish, you don't have to repay me." Brock stated.

Trish smiled at Brock and hugged him once more. After hugging Brock, Brock went in to see Calvin and Trish turned towards Chris. Chris looked right at her as she took his hand. He followed Trish as she led him to go see her brother in the hospital room.

The Next Day

Randy sat in the kitchen with blood shot eyes before he had to go to school. He wasn't able to sleep after hearing the news that Stacy had given him less then 24 hours ago. How could this have happened? They were safe and everything. Randy was knocked out of his thoughts as his baby sister tugged on his pant leg.

"What do you want Shawna?" Randy asked picking her up and setting her in his lap.

"I wanted to see what you were doing." Shawna smiled up at her big brother.

"I'm just thinking." Randy smiled a small smile.

"Are you thinking of me?" Shawna questioned angelic like.

"Of course, you're my baby sister." Randy replied.

"I love you Randy, you're my hero." Shawna hugged Randy.

After that Shawna hopped off Randy's lap and ran into the other room. Randy sighed, how would he be able to take care of a baby? What would his parents think? He was surprised Stacy even wanted him in hers and the baby's life. He needed some help and he knew it wouldn't be coming from his parents. They would go crazy if they knew.

"Randy, sweetie, phone." Mrs. Orton said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Who is it mom?" Randy asked taking the phone.

"It's Terri, are you two friends again?" Randy's mom asked.

"I guess you could say that." Randy answered then spoke into the phone. "Hello"

"Hey Randy." Terri replied as Mrs. Orton walked out the kitchen.

"What's up?" Randy questioned with a smile.

"I just wanted to see if you were alright after your ordeal with Stacy." Terri spoke.

"Um, it went like I thought it would, but the ending didn't come out how I had planned." Randy said as he re-thought about last night.

"What happened?" Terri asked.

"Don't tell anyone, but Stacy and I slept together and, uh, she got pregnant." Randy said slowly.

"She's what?" Terri couldn't believe her ears.

"Yeah, I don't know what to do." Randy sighed into the phone.

"Sorry, I can't help you with this one." Terri started. "I'm not an expert in this area."

"That's alright Terri, I've got to go." Randy began. "I've got to think this through some more."

"Alright, talk to you later." Terri said they hung up.

Randy ran a hand over his head and sighed. He hoped Terri didn't tell anyone, he couldn't afford that. There was no reason he couldn't trust her with it. But what he didn't know was that there was someone there to see him, and that person wouldn't mind spreading that news around the school. Randy never knew the person was there because the person left once they heard Stacy was pregnant.

Stephanie drank the last bit of her orange juice before she left for school. She couldn't wait to get to school to see Paul. Paul wouldn't be able to walk with her because he had a doctor's appointment. She had to admit, that she is smitten over him. The love term had entered her head, but she didn't think her feelings were that strong yet. As she opened the door to leave, there stood Adam.

"Um, Adam what are you doing here?" Stephanie asked with a bright smile.

"I heard Paul had an appointment and I thought you might want some company." Adam stated with a bright smile back.

"Thank you Adam." Stephanie replied shutting the door. "So, did you talk to that girl you know is for you?"

"Yeah I've talked with her about a couple of times." Adam answered.

"Did you invite her to the Halloween party Paul and I are throwing?" Stephanie asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I did, but she can't make it." Adam faked a frown. "Her parents are making her hand out candy to trick-or-treaters."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Stephanie stated. "You know what, you can by yourself."

"Are you sure?" Adam asked. "I don't want to upset Paul."

"He won't be upset and plus, it's at my house." Stephanie replied.

"Okay if you say so." Adam said is fake frown turning into a real smile.

Adam and Stephanie walked all the way to the school grounds together while talking and laughing. As they walked onto school grounds Stacy ran up to Stephanie and Adam. Stacy looked as if she was upset about something.

"Stephanie, I need to talk to you." Stacy said pulling on Stephanie's arm.

"What is it Stace?" Stephanie questioned.

"Alone!" Stacy stated.

"I'll see you two later then, bye Steph." Adam spoke as he walked off and headed to his first period.

When Adam left Stacy took Stephanie to a spot where it was just the two of them alone. Stephanie looked at Stacy and Stacy looked as if she was crying and was scared.

"What is it Stacy?" Stephanie asked wonderingly.

"I did something really bad that could cost me a friendship." Stacy cried.

"What did you do and with who?" Stephanie wondered.

"Randy!" Stacy managed to get out.

Paul drove up to the school and parked his car. He got our and locked his car door and headed into the school building. He had already missed first and second period so he had to go check in at the main office. When he got his re-entry the bell rang for the end of second period and the start of passing time. Paul's next class was Science with Ms. Kelso and Stephanie was in that class with him. He decided to surprise Stephanie by finding her and walking her to class.

Paul walked all the way to Stephanie's second period and found that she had already left. So he walked the way they would walk when he would meet her by the classroom. As he was walking looking for Steph he found her a few people a head of him. He called out her name but she didn't hear him. So, he made his way through a few people and when he had a perfect sight of Stephanie he seen her walking with Adam. By the time he seen them walking they were already at the classroom. Paul watched as Stephanie gave Adam a hug and without and hesitation Adam kissed Stephanie on the cheek. Paul became furious but didn't say anything. He wondered if Stephanie would tell him about it later. So he'd wait and see before he questioned her. As soon as Adam left and Stephanie walked into the classroom, Paul walked in.

"Paul!" Stephanie exclaimed as she seen him walk in.

"Hey princess." Paul smiled as she hugged him and he hugged her back.

"How did your appointment go?" Stephanie asked as they sat down.

"It went well, everything is working just right." Paul answered.

"That's great." Stephanie smiled as the bell rang signaling the start of third period.

Paul shook his head; she hadn't said anything right away. Now he was beginning to wonder what was really going on. Could Stephanie be cheating on him? Would she cheat on him? Questions kept running through his head when he was interrupted by the teacher bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Mr. Levesque, can you come here for a second?" Ms. Kelso asked.

Paul stood up and walked to Ms. Kelso's desk. He stood there for a few minutes before Ms. Kelso spoke to him.

"Paul, can you run this down to the office for me?" Ms. Kelso asked handing him a paper.

"Yeah, I can." Paul stated and took the paper and left.

Paul left the classroom and headed to the office. He got to the office and gave them the paper and he left back for class. On his way back to class he ran into Adam.

"Hey Paul, what's up?" Adam asked with a smile.

"Don't 'hey Paul' me." Paul stated with an angry face.

"What's wrong with you man?" Adam questioned.

"Just keep your lips off of my girlfriend and get your own girlfriend." Paul yelled.

"Man it was just a kiss on the cheek, it meant nothing." Adam stated defensively.

"Sure it didn't." Paul stated with anger in his eyes. "Just stay away from her."

"You can't tell me who I can't see." Adam said firmly. "I'm going to see Stephanie, she is my friend as well."

"Adam, get your own life and back out of mine and Steph's life." Paul responded.

"That's if she wants me out of her life." Adam stated. "And by the looks of it, I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm out of here." Paul spoke and walked off, not seeing the smirk on Adam's face as he left.

Chris was at lunch after 3rd period. He took skipped lunch this time. Jericho wasn't all that hungry. Trish had been partners with Brock in their last class, which was math. Brock had asked Trish to be his partner because he was still fairly new and getting to know people. Of course, Trish said yes. Chris was starting to think that they had something going on again. Maybe Trish didn't really love him and she just felt sorry for him.

Brock was always there. When Calvin got hit by the car, Brock was there, when the dance came up, Brock was there again. Chris couldn't get away from Brock. He was also in half of his classes. Right now, Brock and Trish were probably having lunch.

Chris shook his head as he went over to the pool table that was in the lounge. He racked the balls and picked up a pool stick. After chalking the stick he hit the cue ball and made two of the solids go in. As he continued to play by himself Trish walked in.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you." Trish smiled, as she walked up to him and tried to wrap her arms around his waist.

"Really?" Chris asked as he walked away from her and made another shot.

"Yeah, you just took off after class." Trish stated as she walked near him again.

"I had to go to the bathroom." Chris gave her a direct answer.

"Why are you acting all weird around me?" Trish questioned.

"Am I acting weird?" Chris responded with another question.

"I'm being serious Chris." Trish said looking at Chris.

"Why don't you ask Brock, you two seem to be pretty close." Chris answered.

"Chris, he is my friend and he saved my brother's life." Trish spoke with a frown.

"Well, I'm your boyfriend, and I honestly don't think you owe your life to Brock for saving your brother." Chris said as he took a shot and didn't get any balls in.

"I have to pay him back some how." Trish answered.

"He said you didn't have to do anything Trish, and you've already done everything for him." Chris started. "You've helped him make friends and get to know this town."

"We are friends Jericho." Trish said angry now.

"Back to being called Jericho again." Chris shook his head. "Come find me when you figure out who your real boyfriend is!"

"That's not fair!" Trish half yelled.

"The way you're treating me as your boyfriend isn't fair." Chris replied and walked out of the student lounge.

"It's always been you!" Trish said as she followed him out the student lounge.

Chris stopped in his tracks and turned around and looked at her. She looked heartbroken, but that's how he felt. He wanted her to feel how he felt. Jericho stood there for a few minutes before he spoke.

"It sure doesn't seem like it." Chris answered and turned and walked away.

Stacy walked around outside during her lunch. She was alone because she had a lot on her mind. In history class with Randy, she couldn't even look at him. She felt so bad for all of this. This was all too much for her. Stacy just wanted to lie down and got to sleep and wake up and have all of this be a nightmare. That's the thing that scared her, she knew it was all real. As she walked around campus she bumped into Victoria.

"Hey, Stacy." Victoria said with an evil smile.

"Uh, hi Victoria." Stacy said oddly, Victoria never liked Stacy and visa versa.

"How's the baby doing?" Victoria laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Stacy questioned scared she knew.

"Come on Stacy, so is Randy really the father?" Victoria laughed again.

Stacy ran off crying her eyes out. She kept running as she bumped into more people and they were saying things about her being pregnant as well. Who had told who? Who spread the news around that Stacy was pregnant? As she thought of it, she could only think of one person. The one person she thought would never say anything. She continued to run until she found Stephanie sitting at a table reading a book.

"Who did you tell and why did you lie to them?" Stacy screamed.

"Stacy, what are you screaming about?" Stephanie asked.

"Who did you tell that I was pregnant?" Stacy cried out loud.

"I didn't tell anyone, and you told me you weren't pregnant. You just said you were so Randy wouldn't date Terri." Stephanie spoke. "Why would I get it confused?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me Stephanie?" Stacy shot out.

"Stacy, I told you it wasn't me." Stephanie stated getting angry.

"You're the only person I told and you're the only other person that knows." Stacy yelled.

"That's doesn't mean I told anyone." Stephanie replied.

"Sure it does, you told who ever because you're jealous." Stacy said firmly.

"Me, jealous of you!" Stephanie laughed. "Only in your dreams Stacy."

"You're jealous of me because you can't have the same relationship that Randy and I had." Stacy screamed.

"If I remember correctly, I'm not the one who opened my legs to save a relationship that ended already."

Stephanie's words burned Stacy badly and she wasn't having it. Stacy lunged at Stephanie. They started throwing punches and ripping hair out. Stephanie gave Stacy a bloody nose and Stacy gave Stephanie a busted lip and black eye. They continued fighting until some teachers came and broke it up. When then teachers pulled them apart the two girls notice there was a circle of students watching a cheering on. Both girls were taken to the principal's office and suspend for two weeks. If it wasn't Stephanie who spread the rumor that Stacy was pregnant, then who did?

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Again I am sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Any ideas are welcomed. I hope you liked this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Citcat


	20. It Was You Who Told

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 20: It Was You Who Told…

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: Yes… I know that it has been a VERY VERY long time since I've written… but I've been having some issues lately… that are personal and needed to come first… I thank you all for reviewing and not bugging me about when the next chapter was going to be coming out… Thank you… hopefully I can get back into the flow of writing again… the more reviews… the more I will feel like people really want to read this… Thanks again… now here is the long awaited next chapter…

The bell rang singling the end of the day. Everyone ran from the classroom and to their cars or walked to go home. Tuesday was over for school and that meant only three days left until school was out for the weekend. Paul, Trish, Randy and Chris all were waiting outside next to the big tree for Stephanie and Stacy to come out. Chris and Trish didn't really say anything to one another. But when one was asked a question they would answer. So they weren't ignoring people. They still weren't on the best of terms. They stood there for maybe ten minutes talking.

"Where is she?" Paul wondered aloud where is girlfriend was, part of him thought she might be with Adam.

"Stacy must have skipped my class." Randy stated. "She wasn't in class."

"Same here with me… she wasn't in my class either." Chris announced.

"Steph wasn't in Trish's our classes." Paul answered. "You don't think they skipped without us?"

"Unless they were pulled out of class for something." Trish spoke looking around.

They all stood there for another five minutes until John Cena walked up to them.

"I hope you all aren't waiting for Stephanie and Stacy." John some what questioned.

"Why?" Trish asked in response.

"Because they both got suspended for getting into a fight… you all didn't know that?" John responded.

"No, who did they get into a fight with?" Chris asked shock in his voice.

"Oh wow, they got in a fight with each other!" John stated.

"WHAT!" They all yelled at once.

"Yeah, something about Stephanie spreading a rumor that Stacy's pregnant." John said a little confused.

"Stacy's pregnant!" Trish asked.

"Yeah…" Randy said with his head down.

"Oh wow, so it is true…" John spoke. "But I got to go now."

John walked off leaving the gang speechless. They all walked home in silence and they couldn't believe that Stacy was pregnant. It was like impossible to even believe that that would happen to one of them. But it did and now they have to figure out a way to make their friends be friends again. Also to figure out a way to help Stacy with the baby.

Stephanie sat in her room with her music on. She couldn't believe what happened today. Never in a million years would she think she would get into a fist fight with Stacy. She told Stacy the truth. She didn't tell anyone that Stacy was pregnant. She wouldn't tell anyone for many reasons. Such as the fact that she wasn't pregnant in the first place. Stacy had lied to Randy when she seen him with Terri at the pizza place. The reason for the lie was that Stacy didn't want Randy to go back out with Terri and she claims that she could see it happening in front of her eyes. So to set rumors straight. Stacy isn't pregnant and someone over heard Randy talking on the phone. Randy still believes that Stacy is pregnant and that person who was listing to him that he didn't know about was the one who told everyone.

Vince had gone mad at first when she came home so early. But after having Stephanie explains everything he wasn't so mad. So he let it slide, but she did have to do some extra chores around the house during the two weeks. She couldn't believe her dad let her off that easy. But then again, it wasn't her fault. She did nothing wrong.

As she was listing to her music someone knocked on her door. She looked at the door before she said come in. Stephanie was sitting on her bean bag chair next to her window and she was looking out the window.

"Come in…" Stephanie replied to the knock.

"Hey you…" Adam smiled walking into her room.

"Hey…" Stephanie half smiled.

"So, how are you after everything?" Adam asked.

"Honestly, I feel like shit. I mean I would never lie to Stacy and I can't see how she would think I would spread rumors that she's pregnant when she isn't." Stephanie broke down into tears. "I thought she was my friend and trusted me."

"You know you didn't spread the rumors." Adam started. "Stacy is just in an emotional state right now. She just lost one of her best friends now two, she must have a lot of stress on her."

"I know, but that still doesn't give her the right to yell at me after I told her the truth." Stephanie cried. "You'd think she would trust me."

"Yeah, I do, but she probably isn't in the right state of mind right now." Adam said holding Stephanie as she cried.

"Maybe, but as far as I'm concerned, things aren't going to go back to normal when she finds out who really did it." Stephanie cried more.

Meanwhile

Shane opens the front door to find Paul standing there.

"Hey Paul, what's up?" Shane asked.

"Nothing much, just came to see your sister." Paul smiled. "Ya know, to see how she's doing."

"Yeah I know, she's in her room." Shane stated as he made his way back into the kitchen, not knowing that earlier Vince had let Adam in.

Paul walked up the stairs and wondered what she was doing. As he got closer he could hear her crying and talking. She was talking to someone but couldn't make the out who the other voice was. He listened more intently and he made out that the voice belonged to a male. Knowing it was a male he thought that it might as well be Randy or Chris. Who else could it be? Paul steps to the door and opens it slowly and sees Adam and Stephanie sitting on the floor and Stephanie in Adam's arms. He became furious but didn't say anything, he just watched silently to see what happens.

"You don't deserve to cry like this Steph, you didn't do anything." Adam spoke.

"Yeah I know, it's just the fact that she was my best friend and she didn't believe me." Stephanie said as more tears came out.

"Steph, you know I'm always here for you if you need to talk." Adam replied.

"Yeah I know, and thanks for being such a good friend." Stephanie half smiled.

"Stephanie…" Adam trailed off.

Stephanie looked at Adam and she was about to say something. But before she could Adam's lips beat her to it. Right in front of Paul, Adam kissed Stephanie right one the lips. When Adam did this, it made Paul ballistic. Paul was so pissed off, but more heartbroken that he left right away. Right before he seen Stephanie push Adam off and slap him across the face.

"What the hell?" Stephanie yelled at Adam.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you're the girl." Adam replied.

"Adam, I don't care, you know that I have a boyfriend." Stephanie was angry now.

"Well, I thought that…" Adam said but was cut off.

"You thought nothing… you knew I was dating Paul and you didn't care." Stephanie yelled. "Leave now!"

Adam took one last look at Stephanie before walking out her door. Stephanie looked out the window again when Adam left. She couldn't believe what just happened. How could Adam just kiss her like that? Sure he gave her a kiss on the cheek, but she didn't think anything of it. That's why she didn't tell Paul about it. She wondered when she should tell Paul about the kiss. She figured she'd wait for him to call her like he always does or when he came over.

Stacy sat in her living room staring at a blank television screen. Why would Stephanie lie to her about telling people she was pregnant when she really wasn't? What kind of friend is that? The things Stephanie also said stung and kept repeating in her head. Though she did say some things on her behalf as well. So many things were going through her mind when Stacy heard someone walking in the front door. It was more then one person. It was Hayley and her friend. Stacy slid down and slouched in the couch hoping Hayley wouldn't see her. Which now she would be thankful for, but still unhappy.

"So Stacy is really pregnant?" Hayley's friend Jade asked.

"Yeah, I heard it loud and clear from Randy when he was talking on the phone." Hayley smirked. "I don't know who he told, but he didn't know I heard him, so I'm the one who told everyone."

"You little WHORE!" Stacy screamed as she jumped from the couch and stood in front of Hayley.

"Uh, Stacy hi." Hayley spoke a bit scared of Stacy's anger.

"Don't hi me, because of you I've got rumors being spread about me, I just got suspended for fight my best friend." Stacy yelled.

"Yeah I did, and what are you going to do…" Hayley smirked. "Nothing because you are pregnant."

"Wrong, I lied to Randy to make sure he didn't go back out with Terri." Stacy screamed at Hayley.

Stacy was furious and she lunged at Hayley the way she lunged at Stephanie earlier that day. They were both rolling around on the floor throwing fists at one another when Stacy's parents walked in the door. They both freaked when they saw the girls fighting. The parents hurried and pulled them apart before they killed each other.

"What is going on here?" Mr. Keibler asked as Hayley's friend left knowing it was time to leave.

"She spread rumors about me being pregnant, made me get suspended for a fist fight I had with Stephanie and she's proud of it." Stacy screamed. "She's the reason me and Randy aren't together."

"Hayley, I think that maybe things aren't working out here, maybe you should go live with another Aunt and Uncle, and plus you are hardly here anyway." Mrs. Keibler spoke.

"Fine by me, I don't belong in this town anyways." Hayley stated as she went to the guest room to gather her things. "I'll stay with Uncle Jack and Aunt Sally."

After Hayley walked into the other room, Stacy broke down in tears just like Stephanie had. She was hysterical and couldn't stop crying. Mr. Keibler carried Stacy upstairs to her room and laid her down on her bed. The best thing was to let Stacy cry it out right now. Pretty soon she ended up crying herself to sleep. While she was sleeping, Mrs. Keibler took Stacy to her other Aunt's house and Hayley was finally out of Stacy's life, just like she wanted.

Chris walked outside and started going for a walk. He had to think about some things. Such things as Trish and this Brock thing, Stephanie and Stacy and other things that has been on his mind. As he started to walk Trish caught up to him. She started walking with him in silence for a few minutes before she spoke.

"Chris, listen to me before you say anything." Trish spoke as Chris nodded.

"Look, there is nothing going on between myself and Brock Lesnar. When he moved here, I admit, I did have a crush on him. So I agreed to help him out and everything. We are still friends and that isn't going to change. Yes I may have taken it a bit far when I said I owed Brock something, but he did save my brother's life." Trish continued. "Brock means nothing to me, except for a friendship meaning. Chris you mean more to me then any guy on this planet. It's always been you, I was just to dumb to see that you've been right in front of me the whole time waiting for me and I'm truly sorry."

Chris stopped and looked at Trish. As he looked at her, he could see the heartbreak written ion her face and the pain in her eyes. In a matter of seconds, he could tell that she was going to cry. He just stood there and stared at her not saying a word. Then she started crying. She just poured her heart out and he just stared at her. Then he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry Trish, I was just in shock that you said all that." Chris claims as he hugs Trish. "It just seemed like you still had this thing for Brock, and I almost lost you once, and I didn't have you, so I didn't want to lose you again, but I didn't even realize I was pushing you way."

"So you forgive me?" Trish asked.

"Only if you can forgive me…" Chris smiled at Trish.

"Yeah I can." Trish stated.

Then for the first time without any interruptions, Chris tilted his head to the left and Trish tilted her head to the right and they kissed. The first kiss and nothing didn't stop it. Maybe things didn't have to be perfect for them to share a kiss, just as long as they were there together when it happened.

Randy walked up to Stacy's front door and knocked. He couldn't ignore her forever. She was carrying his baby and he was going to be apart of the babies life whether Stacy wanted him to or not. He kind of smiled thinking of a little one that would be like him. As he got to the front door he knocked and waited for someone to answer the door. In a matter of minutes Mr. Keibler answered the door.

"Hello Randy, Stacy isn't up to talking right now…" Mr. Keibler said when Stacy came down the stairs.

"Let him in daddy…" Stacy said very softly.

"Okay, I guess she is willing to talk." Mr. Keibler replied then walked away.

"Hey, what's up?" Stacy spoke again very softly.

"Nothing, how are you?" Randy asked. "I heard about you and Stephanie… is the baby alright?"

"Randy, we really need to talk." Stacy said as she walked outside shutting the door behind her and sitting down on her porch swing.

"What's wrong, is the baby okay?" Randy questioned worriedly.

"Um, Randy, there is no baby." Stacy said tears forming again.

"What are you talking about?" Randy wondered. "But you said you were pregnant."

"I know, and the only reason I said that was so you wouldn't go back out with Terri." Stacy's tears fell.

"Stacy, why the hell would you lie to me about that?" Randy kept his voice down and low. "What if I was actually looking forward to this non-baby?"

"Come on Randy, I seen the look on your face when I told you." Stacy responded tears still there. "You don't want a baby and come on we are both in high school."

"When I was walking over here I actually thought it would be nice to have a baby crawling around" Randy said looking down.

"I'm sorry Randy, I just didn't know what to tell you to keep you from going out with Terri because I wouldn't be able to handle watching you two together." Stacy stated honestly.

"How can you be so selfish?" Randy looked at her angry. "You're the one who said you wanted nothing to do with me in you love life."

"Randy, I was mad and I say things I don't mean when I'm mad." Stacy defended herself. "You know that yourself."

"It seemed pretty clear to me." Randy explained. "You can't keep saying you want me Stacy, you've got to make up your mind."

"Randy, I was upset, and it's not like you didn't cheat on me…" Stacy continued. "Everyone deserves second chances, and I've given you yours."

"Stace, I'm just not ready to take that second chance again with you after you just lied to me about being pregnant." Randy replied honestly. "Maybe some other time, after we can be friends again like we used to be."

"I'm sorry." Stacy whispered.

"I know that, but I'm just not ready for you right now." Randy replied as he stood up. "I'll see you around."

"Bye Randy." Stacy said her head hung low.

"Don't I get a hug before I leave?" Randy asked putting on a small smile.

"Yeah, sure." Stacy said as she stood up and gave him a hug before he left.

Again I am very sorry this chapter took so long to write and put up. More ideas are welcome to any character and or couple. Please, it would help me a lot and I wouldn't have writers block so much. Thanks again to all of you that read my story and again sorry for the long wait.

Citcat


	21. Drunken Ramblings

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 21: Drunken Ramblings

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: So I'm finally updating this story. I feel so bad about not updating in like forever. I've just kept getting busy and I've had a major issue at home that required absence. But here is the long awaited chapter you've all been waiting before.

The rest of the week had gone by rather quickly for Paul, Chris, Randy, and Trish. The only reason was because they were in school and had something to do. As for Stacy and Stephanie, well it couldn't have been anymore boring. Now it was Saturday morning and Stephanie had been trying to call Paul. She has left him about 50 voice mails on his cell. She even called his house phone, but when she did someone answered and always said he wasn't home. Where could he be she though?

Stephanie walked downstairs and told her dad that she was leaving and going to Paul's house. As she walked down the street she couldn't help but wonder why he had been avoiding her. She knew that he got her voice mails. There was no reason he wouldn't get them. Finally she came up to Paul's door and knocked on it. She waited until Lynn answered the door.

"Hey Steph, what's up?" Lynn smiled.

"Hey, is Paul around?" Stephanie questioned.

"Actually he's not, he left early this morning." Lynn stated.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Stephanie replied.

"What do you mean?" Lynn asked.

"He won't return my calls at all and he's never home when I call." Stephanie started to get teary eyed.

"Oh, I thought you two had made up already." Lynn responded.

"What?" Stephanie was confused now.

"Well, he came home that night from your house…" Lynn started.

"What night? He hasn't been at my house since the day before I got suspended."

"He went to your house the night you got suspended." Lynn began. "He saw you and Adam."

"No…" Stephanie couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, he saw you two kissing." Lynn said sadly.

"Lynn, it wasn't like that." Stephanie said now crying. "I pushed Adam off, and I slapped him after. He didn't see the whole thing."

"I thought his story didn't play out." Lynn replied.

"What am I going to do?" Stephanie asked. "He's obviously not talking to me."

"Come inside, he should be home soon." Lynn stated letting Stephanie in.

Randy was at the skating rink with Terri. He was still upset about the whole Stacy thing that he needs to get out and have some fun. He always had fun with Terri and she had been there for him through a lot. As they skated around he couldn't help but wonder why Stacy thought he would get back with Terri. He looked over at Terri skating and having a good time, and it hit him. He was falling for Terri again. He smiled as she skated up to him.

"What are you all smiles about?" Terri smiled asking.

"Oh nothing, just a good thought in my head for once." Randy smirked.

"Really, you haven't got those in a while." Terri said as they skated along.

"I know what you mean. "Randy said as the lights dimmed.

"What was your thought about?" Terri asked.

"You really want to know." Randy questioned as it was time for the couples skate.

"Yeah I do." Terri laughed.

"Then skate with me." Randy stated.

"I already am." Terri hadn't realized it was the couple skate.

"Give me your hand." Randy held his hand out.

"Uh Randy…" Terri was confused.

"It's the couple skate." Randy replied. "You wanted to know what my thought was about."

"Yeah I do want to know." Terri smiled giving him her hand.

"It was about you." Randy smiled as they skated in silence together hand in hand.

When they were done skating they left the rink and sat down at a table and shared an order of nachos. Terri was speechless. She didn't know what to say to Randy. She still had feelings for him. But she wasn't sure what way Randy meant his thoughts. But her thought was answered by the next thing Randy said.

"So are you ready to give me my second chance with you again?" Randy asked.

"I thought you'd never ask." Terri smiled her eyes glowing.

"I thought you'd never say yes." Randy smirked.

"How could I say no, you've treated me with respect and the way that a woman should be treated." Terri smiled as she leaned across the table and kissed Randy.

"I was going to say lets move slow, but okay." Randy laughs and kisses her back.

Trish woke up happily. She couldn't believe that Chris and she worked things out. That made her day. She sat up in her bed and stretched and looked at her cell phone. She had a voice mail. She picked her cell up and listened to her message. It was Chris.

"Hey beautiful, I take it that you aren't awake yet. So I'll just leave you this lovely message. I just wanted to say that I can't wait to see you today and that I love you with all of my heart."

Trish's heart melted due to Chris' sweetness. She got out of bed in her shorts and tank top and walked downstairs. She hadn't even brushed her hair yet or anything. So she had just gotten out of bed. As she walked down the stairs happily she pretty much felt like she was floating. She was knocked out of thought when she heard someone talking.

"You look even more beautiful when you first wake up."

Trish spun and turned to find Chris sitting in her kitchen talking to her dad.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" Trish asked.

"You don't remember?" Chris questioned. "We were supposed to go to the mall today."

"Oh yeah, sorry. I'll go get dressed right away." Trish ran upstairs.

Trish hurriedly got changed and made herself look all pretty and everything. Then she ran downstairs. Grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

"Okay let's go." Trish said.

"Wow that was pretty quick." Chris stated shocked.

"Yeah it was huh?" Trish smiled as they walked out the door.

"So did you get my message?" Chris smirked.

"Yeah I did, it was really sweet." Trish glowed.

"I can tell you liked it, you're glowing." Chris smiled.

"It's that obvious?" Trish asked.

"Yeah it is." Chris smirked and kissed her.

"Chris, why are we going to the mall again?" Trish asked.

"To get your homecoming dress and my tux." Chris smiled.

"Oh yeah huh." Trish laughed. "Sorry, I was a bit out of it this morning."

"It's okay, I still love you." Chris said and kissed her again.

They got into Chris' car and they drove to the mall and Trish sang along to the radio with a smile on her face. Things were finally going the way they should between her and Chris… nothing could ruin her day.

Stacy walked down the stairs to an empty house. Both her parents had left for work early that morning. So she was left alone. She didn't know what to do. As she walked into the kitchen to get herself some breakfast her phone rang. Instead of going to the fridge like she had planned, she went and grabbed the cordless first then went to the fridge and answered the phone.

"Hello?" Stacy answered.

"Hey Stace, how are you?" The man asked.

"Who is this?" Stacy was a bit confused.

"It's Andrew Test." Andrew stated.

"What the hell do you want?" Stacy rolled her eyes.

"Come on Stace, just listen to me before you do say anything." Andrew pleaded.

"What do you want?" Stacy said as she grabbed the orange juice from the fridge.

"I heard about the rumor, and I just wanted to let you know that I'm here to help if you need it." Andrew replied.

"Where the hell is all this coming from?" Stacy asked.

"Come on, can't I just be a good friend for you?" Andrew asked.

"No you can't, because you've never wanted to just be my friend." Stacy exclaimed. "You've always wanted me to open my legs for you."

"That's not true Stacy, I may think about it a lot…" Andrew started. "But it doesn't mean that's the only reason I want you."

Stacy laughed as she listened to his last line and before she could say anything he started talking again.

"Stacy, you are a beautiful woman, and your smart and any guy would kill to have you." Andrew said with emotion.

"Not any guy would kill to have me." Stacy frowned as she thought of Randy.

"Like who wouldn't?" Andrew asked.

"Randy." Stacy blurted out.

"You don't need him Stace, you're better then that." Andrew said.

"No I'm not, I'm the one who lied." Stacy replied.

"But you're not the one who cheated on him with a family member." Andrew said in a mater of fact tone.

"You're right." Stacy answered back. "I don't need him."

"I don't mean to say I told you so but…" Andrew was cut off by Stacy.

"Thanks Andrew, um, do you want to hang out later on?" Stacy asked with a smile that she hadn't had for a while. "Maybe go grab a bite to eat."

"I'd really like that Stace, I'll see you at your place around one." Andrew spoke.

"Alrighty then, bye." They both hung up.

It was almost 10:00p.m. Now, and Stephanie was still at Paul's house with his sisters. They were upstairs. Lynn was giving Kendal a bath. His parents were gone on a business trip. She was starting to get worried. She had been here since 9:00a.m. and it's been like 13 hours since she's been there. She really hoped he wasn't out there doing anything stupid. As she stood up, about to turn in for the night and try later, here Paul comes walking in the front door wasted.

"Paul!" Stephanie said in a shocked confused tone.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the Whore of Greenwich." Paul slurred.

"I'm not a whore!" Stephanie exclaimed.

"Oh, ok, then I guess its okay to go around making out with other guys while you have a boyfriend." Paul started laughing.

"Just let me explain." Stephanie demanded.

"No, I don't want to hear your whiney voice begging for forgiveness." Paul began mocking Stephanie. "Oh Paul, I'm so sorry!"

"You don't know what in the hell you're talking about." Stephanie said about to cry.

"Oh I don't do me?" Paul said as he tripped a little over his feet.

"Yeah, you don't know." Stephanie fought back tears. "You can't even talk right."

"I can prove you wrong." Paul smirked as he stumbled from wall to wall.

"You think you can prove it." Stephanie stated.

"Ok, that's enough!" Paul yelled. "No Halloween party, you can say goodbye to that."

"Big deal, it's just a party." Stephanie replied.

"I wasn't done!" Paul yelled again. "You can say goodbye to us too."

Stephanie stood there just staring at Paul. He was drunk. He didn't know what he was talking about. Did he? As she stood there, he started talking again.

"Why don't you go find Adam, I'm sure he'd love to comfort you at this time. Don't ever come back crying to me, because I don't need you!" Paul said with anger. "And I'm not drunk enough to forget this, so I know what I'm saying. We are OVER!"

Stephanie ran out the door crying. She couldn't believe that Paul was acting up over something that he wouldn't let her explain. He even had the nerve to go out and get drunk over it. First she loses Stacy and now Paul. Who's next? She wondered as she ran home.

That's it for this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed my chapters. I really would like some ideas for Chris and Trish at the moment. I don't have any for them. Please review and thanks for reading.

Citcat


	22. Obsessive Forms of Jealousy

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 22: Obsessive Forms of Jealousy

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I have just finished my story "Love Never Leaves The Heart". At the end of the final chapter I asked which story I should continue with next, and "Growing Up" was the majority. I hope to have more frequent updates with this story and I hope everyone enjoys. Also, please review. Reviews make me want to write more and it also lets me know if my story is actually being read and if people actually like my writing. So please don't forget to review. Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed.

XoxoxoxoX

It was the Sunday morning. Paul rolled over and was laying on the floor. He sat up quickly, but regretting doing so. As he felt a splitting pain shoot through his head, he grabbed his forehead. He moaned in pain as he looked around. Paul was sitting on the living room floor. He couldn't remember how he got here or why he was here and not in the comfort of his own bed. Paul felt the presence of someone standing behind him. He looked up to see his sister Lynn standing there with aspirin and a glass of water.

"Take this." Lynn stated handing Paul the water and aspirin.

"What happened last night?" Paul asked getting up off the floor.

"You don't remember?" Lynn question as she remember the event that took place last night.

"No, the last thing I remember was hanging out with Shawn." Paul thought.

"Oh, wow." Lynn shook her head. "I hope you didn't mean what you said last night."

"What are you talking about?" He asked looking over at Lynn seriously.

"Stephanie came over last night, well yesterday morning." Lynn started.

"Never mind, I don't want to know anymore." Paul replied standing up and walking away.

"Why not?" Lynn questioned. "Aren't you two dating?" She asked again even though she knew the answer.

"I hope you are going to tell me that I broke up with her last night." Paul said. "Because I'm no longer interest in her."

"Well, then yes you did." Lynn answered. "You also called her the Whore of Greenwich."

"At least I know that no lies were told." Paul stated shaking his head.

"What does that mean?" Lynn asked, she had always liked Stephanie.

"She kissed Adam!!" Paul shouted. "Is that what you wanted to hear."

Paul walked away rather pissed off. The night before he had gone over to Shawn's house looking to free himself of the pain that Stephanie had caused him. Nothing was working, and Shawn's parents weren't home so they opened up a bottle of Jack Daniels. Paul drank most of it as Shawn just watched on. For the time being it took the pain away, that was until he came home to see her waiting for him.

He hit himself in the head for thinking that he could have actually "loved" Stephanie. Paul then laughed and shook his head. What was he thinking about? They were 18 and in high school. What was he doing thinking about the word love.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy walked down the street on his way to the store. He would have drove, but it was such a nice day out that he decided to walk. He was heading to the store to grab something to eat. His parents were out and his sister was at his grandparents' house for the weekend. So it was just him. He started kicking a rock down the street. Randy kicked the rock a few times, before he kicked it one last time. He had lost track of the rock. As he looked up to find the same rock he was kicking, he noticed Stacy walking out of a house. It wasn't just any house though, it was Andrew Test's house.

He couldn't help but wonder, what she was doing walking out of his house. Randy looked at his watch and it was 10:00 in the morning. This made him wonder even more. He questioned himself about going up to her. I mean, they are still friends after all, but things were still a bit awkward. He was just going to ignore it, but he second thought that idea when he saw Andrew walk out the door.

"Stacy?" Andrew called out.

"Yeah?" Stacy asked looking back at him.

"You forgot something." Andrew smirked.

"What?" She asked walking back up to him.

Andrew handed her what she had forgot. She looked at it and realized it was her shirt. Stacy blushed as she took her shirt and kissed him on the cheek. She smiled at him before walking off and onto the side walk.

That had caught Randy off guard for a moment. He had to talk to her now. It was a must. Reason being, she hated Andrew. Or so he though. As Andrew walked back inside and shut his door, Randy ran up to Stacy who was walking down the street to her house. He gently put a hand on her shoulder letting her know he was there.

"Hey." Randy spoke.

"Uh, Hey." Stacy asked feeling tense around him.

"What's up with that?" Randy asked nodding his head towards Andrew's house.

"What about it?" Stacy questioned back.

"You hate the guy." Randy stated.

"Yeah, well I never gave it a chance to get to know him." Stacy defended.

"Did you sleep with him?" Randy couldn't help but ask.

"Excuse me?" Stacy looked at Randy.

"You heard me." Randy stated. "Did you sleep with him?"

"That is none of your information." Stacy gave him a look of disgust.

"Like hell it is." Randy replied.

"What the hell Randy?" Stacy questioned.

When Stacy spoke those words she slapped him and ran off. Randy grabbed his cheek as he could feel her handprint left on his face. It stung greatly. He let his hand linger on his cheek as he watched her run off. He shook his head quickly as he thought about what just happened. He couldn't believe he just walked up to her like that and started demanding to know what she was doing. This couldn't be happening. It had only been two days since their whole ordeal had died down. He couldn't be getting those feelings again for her. Could he? No, he couldn't he was with Terri now. There was no was. Was there? Why else would he get all crazy over Andrew? Was he jealous?

XoxoxoxoX

Trish admired her dress that hung on the back of the door. It was mid-length and made out of satin. It was silver with black designs on the rim of the dress. The back of the dress had spaghetti straps. It was beautiful. The best part about it, was that Chris had bought her the dress. Everything was going great for them as of late. All the drama between them had died down, and they were able to just be them.

Trish was knocked out of her trance when her mother walked into her room. Stephanie had just walked into her room. She had looked like she hadn't slept at all last night. Her eyes were red and puffy. It looked as if she had been crying all night long. Stephanie went right over to Trish's bed and sat down. The moment Trish looked at her, Stephanie broke down again in tears.

"Hey, Steph, what's wrong?" Trish asked concerned for her friend.

"Its Paul." Stephanie cried.

"What are you talking about?" Trish questioned.

"He hates me." Stephanie sobbed. "He thinks I cheated on him with Adam."

"Why would he think that?" Trish replied in question.

"Because, when he came to see me…" Stephanie trailed on. "He saw Adam lean in and kiss me."

"What, are you serious?" Trish was shocked.

"Paul didn't see me push him off." Stephanie looked up at Trish with teary eyes.

"Well, did you talk to him about it?" Trish hugged her best friend.

"I tried to, but he wouldn't let me speak." Stephanie looked down. "He came home drunk last night."

"I'm so sorry." Trish stated rubbing Stephanie's back.

"He called me the Whore of Greenwich." Stephanie answered looking at Trish. "He broke up with me."

"Maybe he didn't mean it." Trish tried to comfort Stephanie.

"Yes he did." Stephanie choked. "Lynn called me and told me."

"Oh." Trish was speechless.

"Trish, I don't know what to do." Stephanie put her head in her hands. "I really liked him."

"Just give it time." Trish spoke. "If its meant to be, it will happen."

"How much time are we talking here?" Stephanie asked.

"Well, you know that saying." Trish started. "When you love something let it go, if it comes back its yours to keep, but if it doesn't you know it wasn't meant to be."

"Trish, how long is that supposed to be?" Stephanie wiped her eyes with a sniffle.

"I honestly don't know Steph." Trish frowned. "I wish I could have helped you better."

"Its ok." Stephanie kind of smiled. "At least I don't have to waste a whole bunch of money on that Halloween party."

"You aren't throwing it anymore?" Trish asked surprised.

"He said that was over with too." Stephanie answered. "And I don't want to throw it alone."

"True." Trish shrugged.

It was quiet in Trish's room for a moment. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was more of a comfort silence. It was like that for about ten minutes when Stephanie noticed the sliver dress hanging on Trish's door.

"Cute dress." Stephanie said looking at it. "Is it for Homecoming?"

"Thanks and yeah it is." Trish smiled.

"You going with Chris?" Stephanie sighed.

"Yeah, we picked out the dress and his tux yesterday." Trish beamed.

"Cool…" Stephanie answered.

Trish saw the facial expression on Stephanie's face. She had just realized what she had done. Not intentionally, but she had just rubbed her boyfriend in Stephanie's face.

"I'm sorry." Trish apologized.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Stephanie half smiled. "I need to get used to it anyway."

"Well, are you going to go?" Trish asked.

"Probably not." Stephanie frowned.

"But you have to go." Trish stated. "Its our senior year."

"Who am I going to go with?" Stephanie looked on.

"I'm sure you could find someone." Trish smiled. "I mean come on, you are hot."

"Shut up." Stephanie started to smile.

"I'm serious." Trish began. "Any guy would want to take you to Homecoming."

"You think so?" Stephanie asked.

"No, I don't think." Trish smirked. "I know so."

XoxoxoxoX

Chris was restocking the shelves at the store that he worked at. Today was a very slow day. There wasn't very many customers and practically nothing to do. He sighed as he put a can of green beans with the other cans. He started whistling to himself when he noticed Randy walk up.

"Hey man." Chris smiled.

"Hey." Randy stated firmly.

"What's up man?" Chris asked, concern for his friend.

"Nothing." Randy said directly.

"You act like I haven't known you my entire life." Chris laughed. "I know when something's wrong."

"It's nothing." Randy stated angrily. "Its just Stacy."

"Ok, what about Stacy?" Chris asked as he continued to stock.

"She was with Andrew last night." Randy said unconsciously.

"I thought she hated him?" Chris wondered.

"That's what I thought too." Randy replied. "So I asked her, and she said she never gave him the chance."

"Ok, well that's good for her." Chris spoke.

"No its not!!" Randy quickly stated.

"Whoa, dude." Chris said putting his hands up. "What does it matter to you?"

Randy just looked at Chris. He couldn't answer his question, because he didn't even know himself. Chris was right though. It was good that Stacy was moving on. That's what he wanted right? He wasn't ready for her. Or was he just kidding himself.

"I'll talk to you later Chris." Randy said as he left the aisle.

Chris shook his head as he watched Randy leave. Something was up with him, but he just wasn't exactly sure what was wrong. He figured that he'd just find out later. Chris went back to stocking again.

XoxoxoxoX

Adam smirked as he clicked something on his computer. He couldn't help but think about the kiss. Even though she pushed him off and slapped him after, it was the best kiss she had ever had. His heart raced every time he thought of that moment. He laughed evilly as he remembered seeing Paul in Stephanie's mirror peaking through the door. He had purposely kissed her at that very moment. He had just about gotten Paul out of the picture. As to his knowledge, they had broken up as of last night. He just needed to make sure they didn't get back together.

He continued to do a few things on the computer before he hit the print button. A couple of things came out of the printer. Adam smiled at them, looking at them longingly. His head wandered over to his night stand, to the picture of Stephanie he had in a heart frame. He had printed that picture off of the computer. He smiled at the picture before looking at the items in his hands. He smirked evilly as he walked out of his room.

Adam got into his car, and headed down the street. Once he got to his destination his smirk turned into a full fledged evil grin. As he got out of the car, he made his way up the pathway to the front door. He knocked on the door and waited patiently. As he waited he looked down at the folder in his hands. This had better go as planned.


	23. Emotions Run Wild

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 23: Emotions Run Wild

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed my chapter. Please make sure you review. Review mean a lot to me. They inspire me to write. So the more reviews I get, the quicker a chapter should come up. Thanks again to all my readers who reviewed and who read.

XoxoxoxoX

Adam continued to wait for the person to answer the door. He couldn't help his smirk that stayed on his face as he looked at the envelope he held. If things went the way he wanted, then everything would work out to his advantage. Adam's head looked up at the door as he noticed the door know twist. As if on cue, Adam's full fledge smirk turned to a no expression face.

Paul came face to face with Adam Copeland when he opened his front door. It shocked him to see Adam there. Adam must have been crazy to just show up on his front porch. Paul couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the nonsense that was taking place right at the moment. He was going to just slam the door in his face, but he wanted to know what in the hell made him come over to his house. Adam had already screwed everything else up, what more damage could he do.

"What the hell do you want?" Paul asked.

"I know you aren't exactly the happiest with me right now." Adam stated his expression never changing.

"Oh really." Paul said sarcastically. "I never would have guessed."

"Just hear me out." Adam replied.

"Talk." Paul said directly.

"Do you mind if we sit down?" Adam asked trying to lighten the tension in the room.

"Talk." Paul answered.

"Ok." Adam took a deep breath before he spoke.

Adam looked down at the envelope that he held again. His expression remaining the same, he looked back up at Paul and handed him the envelope. He watched as Paul just looked at the envelope. Paul never once opened it. He looked from the envelope and then right back to Adam waiting for him to get on with what he had to say. Adam took one last breath before he began to speak.

"A few days after Stephanie's birthday party, she called me up." Adam started. "We talked for a few hours and one thing led to another. We were laughing and she kept giggling. After that phone call we continued to talk at school and we started hanging out a lot more."

"Get to the point Copeland." Paul stated as he was getting angry along with upset emotions.

"Well, it wasn't like I planed this out to hurt you. I just never felt this way about anyone before. I told her that, and she said that she felt the same. Then I couldn't help but wonder about you. So I asked her, what about you? She told me that it would be our little secret, because she didn't just want to toss you to the curb right away since you two just started dating." Adam finished.

"You are expecting me to believe that bullshit?" Paul almost laughed, even though part of him did believe what Adam said, because of the kiss he had witnessed between the two.

"If you don't believe me, then just look in that envelope." Adam replied.

With that said, Adam left Paul at the door way. Adam got into his car and started it. He waited there for a few minutes watching Paul in the doorway. Paul just stood there staring at the envelope. He looked up at the car Adam was in. Adam nodded his head to open the envelope. Paul looked back down at the envelope and slowly opened it. Unaware of what was going to be in there. As he opened it, his heart began to rage with many different emotions. Sadness, angriness, hurt, pain, hate, and many more.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy sat in her bedroom alone. She was laying on her bed just thinking. Her heart was starting to like Andrew. Once she finally gave him the chance, to get to know him. She realized that he wasn't such a jerk like she had thought. She had always thought that Andrew was a jerk, because he was one of the popular jocks, who think too much into themselves. She couldn't help but smile at the thought. Having Andrew on her mind, she pulled out her cell phone and looked at her display picture. Andrew had willingly taken a picture with her and he made it her display on her phone. Stacy absolutely loved the picture. It made her heart skip a beat. While she was looking at her cell phone, it began to ring. She looked at the screen, and noticed it said Randy.

Seeing his name pop up on her screen made her think back to what had happened only a few minutes ago. Stacy rejected the call. She was in no mood to talk to him at the moment. Not after what he had said to her.

__

XoXoX Flashback XoXoX

__

That had caught Randy off guard for a moment. He had to talk to her now. It was a must. Reason being, she hated Andrew. Or so he though. As Andrew walked back inside and shut his door, Randy ran up to Stacy who was walking down the street to her house. He gently put a hand on her shoulder letting her know he was there.

"Hey." Randy spoke.

"Uh, Hey." Stacy asked feeling tense around him.

"What's up with that?" Randy asked nodding his head towards Andrew's house.

"What about it?" Stacy questioned back.

"You hate the guy." Randy stated.

"Yeah, well I never gave it a chance to get to know him." Stacy defended.

"Did you sleep with him?" Randy couldn't help but ask.

"Excuse me?" Stacy looked at Randy.

"You heard me." Randy stated. "Did you sleep with him?"

"That is none of your information." Stacy gave him a look of disgust.

"Like hell it is." Randy replied.

"What the hell Randy?" Stacy questioned.

When Stacy spoke those words she slapped him and ran off.

XoXoX End Flashback XoXoX

Stacy shook her head as she thought of that. How could Randy say that to her? How could he ask her such a question? It made her feel like he thought she was a slut because she hung out with Andrew. She had stayed the night at Andrew's, but nothing happened. They were just talking and time flew by. By the time they realized what time it was, it was way to dark for Stacy to just walk home. Andrew had offered Stacy a ride home, or that he would walk her. Stacy declined, and asked to stay over because she was having a good time. Andrew had loaned her a large shirt and a pair of shorts for her to sleep in, so she didn't ruin her other clothes. So when she left this morning, she had forgotten to change shirts. In fact, Stacy had slept on Andrew's bed, and Andrew had slept on the couch.

Stacy smiled at the thought of Andrew being such a gentleman. Then her thoughts diverted back to Randy, as he had called her cell once again. Randy had no right, questioning her like he had done. They weren't dating anymore, and it was none of his business as to what she did and who she hung out with. She could understand him asking about why she was hanging out with Andrew, because she did hate him at one point. But for Randy to ask if she had slept with him, was way out of line. He basically implied that she was a slut in her opinion. Although, she couldn't help but wonder, why he would act that way. He wasn't ready to give her a second chance. So what was with the third degree?

XoxoxoxoX

Randy paced back an forth in his kitchen. He had just gotten back from the store. He was so lost in thoughts and emotions that he didn't even grab anything to eat. He had totally forgot about it. He had felt guilty about what had taken place earlier today. His mind was racing with thoughts of what to do. He figured that he should call her and apologize. Yeah, that's what he would do. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Stacy's number. It rang a few times, then was sent to her voice mail. He hung up, and tried again. This time he was automatically sent to voice mail. She was screening her calls. He cursed to himself. He really wanted to talk to her. He was about to call her again, when his cell phone rang. Without thinking he answered it quickly.

"Stacy!?" Randy said rather quickly.

"Um, no. Its Terri." Terri spoke rather confused. "Why would you think I was Stacy?"

"Oh Sorry." Randy said, as he tried to think of something. "Stacy just kept calling me, so I thought it was her and I was going to tell her to stop."

"Oh, ok." Terri smiled. "I could tell her to stop if you want."

"Oh no, its ok." Randy said quickly.

"Ok." Terri said getting quiet.

"So, what's up?" Randy asked as he took a deep breath.

"Nothing." Terri replied. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out today."

"Yeah sure." Randy answered. "What time?"

"Well, I'm actually right around the corner." Terri spoke. "I could stop by now."

"Oh, ok." Randy stated. "That's fine."

"Ok, I'll be over in five minutes." Terri said then hung up.

As they hung up Randy couldn't help but wonder what he had just done. He had just lied to his girlfriend. What was he doing? This wasn't right. He couldn't be doing this. He didn't want to hurt Terri again, but he didn't want to pass up these feelings he had with Stacy. That is, if these feelings were real, because he wasn't exactly sure if they were. Randy was knocked out of his thoughts when a knock came at the door. He walked over to the door and answered it.

"Hey." Terri smiled as she hugged Randy.

"Hey." Randy smiled and let her in.

Randy shut the door once Terri walked into the house. Once he shut the door, they both made their way to the couch and sat down. It was rather quiet in the room, before Terri broke the silence.

"So, what do you want to do?" Terri asked.

"I don't know." Randy replied. "We could watch a movie."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Terri rubbed her arm.

"So which one do you want to watch?" Randy asked getting up and making his way over to his movies. "I have tons."  
"Um, I don't know." Terri answered. "Why don't you pick."

"Ok, we'll watch this one." Randy said holding up the movie Rush Hour Three.

"Looks good to me." Terri stated as Randy put the movie in and sat back down by her.

The movie began to play. Terri slid closer to Randy during the movie, hoping he would put his hand around her or something. She sighed as he just sat there. He looked rather intent on the movie. He obviously didn't get the hint that she wanted him to put his arm around her, as she was practically sitting on top of him.

Randy stared blankly at the t.v. screen. He was so confused about everything. He looked down at Terri, and noticed her scooting closer to him. He knew what she was doing. She wanted him to put his arm around her. For some reason, he didn't do that. He just pretended he didn't notice. He really wanted to put his arm around her, he just had way to many thoughts on his mind. As Randy began to think some more he felt Terri's hand intertwine with his hand. He looked at her hand with his, then looked at her. At that very moment, he was no longer confused. He knew what to do.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris clocked out from his store. He was now off, and was looking forward to the rest of his day. He pulled out his cell phone and noticed he had 12 unread text messages. He wondered who on earth would text him so much. As he opened his phone, he smiled as he noticed the texts were from Trish. Yes, all 12 of the messages were from Trish. They were little notes like "I love you" "I miss you" "call me" and so forth. He chuckled to himself at how cute she was. He had honestly never felt this way about a girl before.

He had dated his fair share of girls. Some only lasted from one day to 3 months. He was never able to keep a girl longer then 3 months. He had always tossed them to the curb because he didn't like them anymore, liked some other girl, or just was too scared to be in a long term and committed relationship. As he thought of it, he began to get scared. A smile formed on his face as he felt himself getting scared. Even if he was scared, there was no way he was letting Trish go. She would be there to make sure he wasn't scared anymore. Chris dialed Trish's number and put the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" Trish answered.

"Hey Babe." Chris smiled into the phone.

"Um, who is this?" Trish asked, a smirk forming on her face.

"Trish, its me Chris." Chris said.

"Chris?" Trish said in a wondering tone. "Chris who?"  
"Come on Trish, stop playing games." Chris was getting worried. "Its me, Chris Jericho."

"Hmm…" Trish tried not to laugh.

"Chris Jericho." Chris stated. "Your boyfriend."

"Oh, well, why didn't you just say so." Trish smirked into the phone with a giggle.

"Ha ha, real funny." Chris shook his head. "What are you doing?"  
"Planning our future." Trish laughed.

"What?" Chris asked with shock in his voice.

"I was just kidding." Trish giggled. "I'm actually just sitting here admiring my dress."

"Oh." Chris breathed a sigh of relief. "So you really do like the dress?"

"I love it." Trish smiled. "Just like I love you.  
"I love you too." Chris answered into the phone.

It was quiet on the phone for a few minutes. It wasn't an awkward silence either. It was a perfect silence. Nothing had to be said, they were just happy knowing they could hear the other breath over the phone. Almost randomly and out of no where, Trish spoke.

"Hey Chris?" Trish questioned.

"Yeah?" Chris asked.

"Do you think we could do something this weekend?" Trish bit her lip.

"Yeah, what did you have in mind?" Chris replied.

"Well, I was thinking we could go up to my parents' cabin." Trish said.

"Yeah, that sounds fun." Chris exclaimed. "Did you already talk to the others?"

"No." Trish answered.

"Ok, do you want me to call them?" Chris asked.

"Well, I was kind of thinking…" Trish trailed off.

"Thinking what?" Chris questioned.

"That it could be just the two of us." Trish said softly.

The phone became silent again. Chris couldn't believe Trish had just asked him that. He didn't have a problem with it, it just caught him off guard. They had hung out alone before, but this would be different. They would be alone, in a cabin, with no interruptions. He didn't think she was ready for that, nor did he think he was ready.

"Yeah, we can do that." Chris spoke finally.

"Really?" Trish asked excitedly.

"Yeah." Chris answered.

"Ok, you're the best." Trish said into the phone. "I'm going to let you go, so I can plan all of this out."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later." Chris smiled.

"Love you." Trish blushed.

"Love you too." Chris stated then hung up.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie walked home slowly. She really didn't want to go home, but she had no other place to go. She dreaded going into her room. Her room would bring back the thoughts of what happened in there. The kiss and Paul seeing it. It also reminded her of Paul. She had a couple of pictures of them up in her mirror and a few in frames and one of her favorites on her night stand. She would look at it every night before she went to sleep.

She couldn't figure out why Paul was acting the way he was. This was really unlike him. He usually wasn't this mean to her when they got into a fight. When they were friends, he would just blow it off. But this was different. They were together, well not anymore. So it meant different rules, because this time a fight could actually cause damage. She reached her door step when she heard her name being called. She turned around and saw Paul walking up her drive way. Her heart nearly stopped. Was he here to make up? He had to have been. Why else would he come over? Her once upset mood turned into a emotion of hope.

"Hey." Stephanie smiled.

Her smile turned into a frown, as he didn't respond back. He didn't even smile back. That overruled her assumption of things being fixed. He was obviously here to say something smart. Or maybe, just maybe he was here to let her explain. She didn't let her hopes get up too high.

"What's up?" Stephanie asked.

"Nothing." Paul said straight forward. "Care to explain this?"

"Explain what?" Stephanie was confused.

"This!" Paul spoke holding a picture in front of Stephanie.

Stephanie's eyes widen at the picture. Her heart practically stopped. The date on the corner of the picture implied that the picture was taken on the day after her birthday. The day after her and Paul had started dating. It was of her and Adam. It looked as if she was taking the picture, and Adam's chin was in the crook of her neck. They both were smiling brightly.

"Ok, if you don't want to explain that one." Paul started. "Then explain this one."

He held another picture in front of her. This one was taken the very next day after that so the date said. It was of her kissing Adam on the cheek and him looking at her with longing eyes. Her hand was rested on his cheek.

"Fine, don't answer that one either." Paul shook his head. "Try this one."

This time, it was of Adam and Stephanie. They were at a park that had a swing. Adam was sitting on the swing, and Stephanie was sitting on Adam's lap. They were both looking into each others eyes and the wind blew just at the right time and they kissed.

"Damn Steph." Paul shook his head. "What did I do? Please tell me. I'm just dying to know. We weren't even together that long, and you cheat on me already. To think that you were one of my best friends. I was sure wrong on that. Also, you know the craziest thought came to my mind the other day. I was going to come see you after you got into that fight with Stacy. You know what I was going to tell you. I was going to say that I loved you. Yeah, good thing I didn't. I could never love a slut."

With that, Paul threw the pictures in front of Stephanie and left. He left Stephanie standing on her front porch alone. By this point Stephanie was crying. She couldn't believe this. Why was this happening to her. He didn't even give her the chance to even speak or explain anything. He was too quick with the pictures. She couldn't register them that fast. She never took those pictures. She'd never even seen Adam on those days. So how did those pictures ever come to be? How did Paul get them?

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. I think it could be my best chapter by far for this story. Please review.

Citcat


	24. Realization Hits Hard

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 24: Realization Hits Hard But May Be Too Late

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed my chapter. Please make sure you review. Review mean a lot to me. They inspire me to write. So the more reviews I get, the quicker a chapter should come up. Thanks again to all my readers who reviewed and who read.

XoxoxoxoX

Monday morning came rather quickly. Stephanie and Stacy were both still on suspension from the fight they had. Once this week was over, they would both be able to go back to school on Monday. The two girls still haven't talked since the whole thing. For the rest of the gang, they all had made their way to school bright and early.

The afternoon came rather quickly. The clock stroke 11:00 a.m. and the bell sounded for lunch. Randy got out of class and made his way down to the cafeteria. He got in the sandwich line and waited patiently. Once he got his sandwich, he paid for it and made his way outside. He found Terri sitting on the steps alone. It was now or never. Randy slowly walked over to Terri and sat down next to her.

"Hey." Randy said sitting down.

"Hey." Terri smiled. "What's up?"

"Nothing, but I was actually wanting to talk to you about something?" Randy stated.

"Ok!?" Terri asked unsure of where this conversation was going.

"Terri, I like you a lot." Randy said as he stared at his sandwich.

"I like you too." Terri smiled taking a hold of his hand.

"But…" Randy trailed off taking his hand away from Terri.

"But what?" Terri asked, her eyes glistening with forming tears.

"I'm not exactly ready for a relationship right now." Randy responded feeling like a jerk.

"Why would you do this to me?" Terri asked biting her lip. "Why would you even ask me out if you weren't ready for a relationship?"

"I know, and I'm truly sorry about it all." Randy spoke. "I wasn't thinking and I was jumping to things that I wasn't ready for."  
"I knew it was too good to be true." Terri cried. "To think I wouldn't get my heart broken by you again."  
"Terri, I really am sorry." Randy frowned.

"I am too." Terri shook her head and stood up.

"Can we at least stay friends?" Randy asked. "Until I'm ready for a relationship."

"Yeah Randy." Terri stated and walked away.

Terri walked away from Randy, tears running down her face. She knew better then to say yes to Randy that day he had asked her out at the skating rink. Why did she say yes? Well, while hanging out with Randy again, she began to fall for him all over again. She didn't even think twice when he had asked her out. She wished she would have thought twice, because she would have been able to prevent this from happening. Terri did smile a little bit, because he did still like her. He just wasn't ready for a relationship yet. So, maybe a little later down the line. She could accept that, but she couldn't tell Randy that. She didn't want him to think he could just toss her around like a toy.

Randy ate his lunch alone on the steps where he had just spoken with Terri. He felt horrible for doing that, but it was the right thing to do. With the way things were going right now, he just couldn't be in a relationship. Breaking up with Terri was the best thing, even though it didn't seem like it. It would save her from getting hurt even worse. Randy pulled out his cell phone. He contemplated on calling Stacy. He really needed to talk to her. He needed to apologize for his actions. He didn't know what had gotten into him that day. He knew what he did was uncalled for. He hated the fact that he had upset Stacy the way he had done. Even though he did still have feelings for Stacy, he wasn't going to act on them. If it was meant to happen, it would happen. As for now, he just wanted to apologize to her and try and fix their friendship.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish smiled brightly as she paid for her pizza. Today was a good day. Nothing could make this day go wrong. She had gotten the highest grade by a long shot on her test in English class. There was no fighting around her or with her. She got to see her boyfriend before every period, because he had walked her to all of her classes. Even though he ended up being late to all of his classes. Everything was going just the way she wanted it. It was almost too good to be true. All of a sudden, Trish felt hands covering her eyes. She smiled as she could smell his cologne. She smirked when he began to speak in a girly voice.

"Guess who?" Chris smirked in a girly voice.

"Um, Hm…" Trish wondered aloud. "Beth?"

"Nope." Chris stated.

"Candice?" Trish smiled.

"No, one last guess." Chris whispered in her ear.  
"Well, then I'm going to have to say…" Trish thought. "Christina."

"YES!!" Chris shouted releasing her eyes. "Wait a minute."

"Hey Christina." Trish laughed. "You look quite manly today."

"Haha, real funny." Chris shook his head, wrapping an arm around Trish's waist. "So how is your day?"

"My day is the best." Trish couldn't help but smile. "Yours?"

"It just got better." Chris smiled kissing Trish on the cheek.

Trish blushed at his gesture. She felt like she was in heaven on cloud nine. Could God have possibly sent her anyone better then this. She began to wonder what she did to deserve such a wonderful friend and lover. Trish honestly believed that Chris was her true love. Even though they had only been dating about a week or two, everything just clicked for them. They were best friends since they were born. Maybe that's why she felt the way she did. She just couldn't believe that he was right in front of her the whole time. Why hadn't she noticed Chris before? It didn't matter though, she had him now and that's all that mattered now. Trish was knocked out of her thoughts when Chris squeezed her arm gently. She looked around and realized they were outside on the steps sitting next to Randy.

"Hun, sit down." Chris smiled at her.

"Ok." Trish smirked sitting on Chris' lap.

"That works too." Chris laughed as he turned to Randy. "So, what's up man?"

"Nothing really." Randy smiled. "How are you two?"

"Great!!" Trish said happily as she took a bite of her pizza.

"We're just fine." Chris sighed happily.

"That's great for you two." Randy stated taking a bite of his sandwich.

"What about you?" Chris asked. "How's the love life?"

"Well, I just broke up with Terri." Randy spoke.

"You went back out with Terri?" Trish said with a look of disgust.

"Yeah for a day or two." Randy looked at Trish.

"What?" Trish looked around lost and confused.

"Why the disgusted look when I said Terri's name?" Randy asked.

"Oh, nothing." Trish laughed. "The pizza tasted gross in that bite."

"Right." Chris and Randy said at the same time.

"Its true!" Trish said with a small pout.

"I know." Chris smiled kissing her forehead.

XoxoxoxoX

Paul wasn't exactly hungry when lunch came around. He was actually looking for his friends. He hadn't seen Randy, Chris, and Trish this last weekend and he wondered how they were doing. He was so caught up in this whole Stephanie and Adam thing, he had forgotten about his friends. As he walked down the hall, he noticed Adam walking in his direction. The sight of Adam made him sick to his stomach. When he saw Adam, he thought of Stephanie and then thought of the pictures. It killed him to look at those pictures. They were practically burned in his head. What upset him the most, was Stephanie not explaining the pictures. She knew what they were, or that's what Paul had thought. Paul sighed as he started to think back again.

__

XoXoX Flashback XoXoX

__

Paul and Stephanie had went to the park one Saturday afternoon. They had went for a walk because it was a cool and beautiful day out. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. Paul looked over at Stephanie who was looking at the trees. He smiled at the sight of her. She looked like an angel. His heart melted for her. At that very moment, he would have done anything and everything for her. He looked down at their hands, as Stephanie had just locked her hand with his. Their hands gently swayed with each step they took. He couldn't help but make his smile bigger. Paul had never felt this way about a girl before. He didn't know what it was. He was doing things he normally wouldn't do, he was saying things that he wouldn't usually say, and he was just acting totally different in a good way. He didn't know what this feeling was. He felt so many emotions at this very moment. He felt overwhelmed with so many emotions running through him. He was about to speak when she had beat him to it.

"Paul, lets go swing!" Stephanie smiled taking his hand and leading him over to the swing.

"Swings it is." Paul shook his head as he watched her drag him to the swings.

He sat down on one of the swings. Paul was a bit shocked when Stephanie sat on his lap. He thought she was going to sit on the other swing. Although he didn't mind that she was sitting on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist. They both sighed happily as they continued to hold hands. Stephanie had leaned her head on his shoulder. Paul kissed her forehead as he slowly started swinging back and forth.

A little old lady walked by and smiled at Paul and Stephanie. They were just the cutest thing in her eyes. They reminded her of herself and her husband when they were their age. The lady noticed a camera in Stephanie's hand. She slowly walked up to the couple, as to not scare them.

"Hello." The lady spoke. "I don't want to freak you two out, but I couldn't help but notice how cute you two look just sitting there on the swing."

"Thanks." Paul smiled at the lady.

"I noticed that you two had a camera." The lady responded. "Would you mind if I took a picture of you two?"

"Sure, go ahead." Stephanie smiled handing the lady her digital camera.

The lady took the camera and took a few steps back. She positioned the camera in front of her and made sure she was able to get Paul and Stephanie in the picture.

****

They were at a park that had a swing. Paul was sitting on the swing, and Stephanie was sitting on Paul's lap. They were both looking into each others eyes and the wind blew just at the right time and they kissed.

Snap! The lady took the picture on the digital camera. She smiled as she reviewed the picture and went back over to Paul and Stephanie. She handed them the camera and said thank you. Then she left on with the rest of her day.

Stephanie looked at the camera. She smiled at the picture that the lady had taken. She showed the picture to Paul. Paul smiled at the picture and right at that moment, he knew what all those feelings were he was feeling. He was falling in love with Stephanie McMahon.

XoXoX End Flashback XoXoX

That's when it hit him. Paul's eyes widen as he watched Adam walk right past him and outside the school exit. Stephanie had put that picture of them up on her myspace. Paul had done the same thing. Paul leaned against a locker as he thought about everything. The pictures Adam gave him, they looked exactly like the pictures he and Stephanie had taken. All of them had been up on myspace. Paul began to beat his head on the locker. He felt a hand pull him away from the locker. Trish, Chris, and Randy had all walked up to Paul.

"Um, that can cause brain damage." Trish laughed.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked concerned for his friend.

"Why the hell are you banging your head against the locker?" Randy questioned.

"I'm an idiot." Paul sighed.

"Well, that's for sure." Trish stated sipping her water.  
"Trish!?" Chris looked at her.

"What?" Trish asked sweetly.

"Why do you say you're an idiot?" Randy asked.

"I broke up with Stephanie." Paul ran a hand through his hair.

"You did?" Chris and Randy spoke at the same time.

"That's why I said that's for sure." Trish shook her head.

"I didn't let her explain." Paul responded. "I didn't even give her the chance."

"Well, what exactly went down?" Randy asked.

Paul then told Trish, Chris and Randy the whole story. He even told them about his realization, that Adam had photo chopped the pictures.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie finished up the last of the dirty dishes that she was washing. She had nothing else better to do then clean. So she started cleaning up things in the house, even though everything was already cleaned. Stephanie then began to dry the dishes and put them away. As she was drying them, she came across a mug. She smiled at the mug. It was a mug from the 4th grade. Stacy and Stephanie were partners and they were assigned to make a design for a mug. Stephanie smiled as she looked at the stick people on the mug. It was supposed to be Stacy and her, though you couldn't really tell. The only way a person could tell was by the yellow hair and brown hair. Their teacher had put their picture onto two mugs and gave them each one to keep.

She began to wonder what Stacy was up to and what she had been up to. It had been a whole week since she had talked to Stacy. That was a long time to them, seeing that they would talk every single day. Stephanie missed Stacy. She was part of her other half. She couldn't help but smile as old memories came running into her head. She had to go talk to her. It was a must.

Stephanie finished drying the rest of the dishes and made her way upstairs to her bedroom. She set her cell phone down on her desk. She then sat down on her bed and slipped her shoes on. As she walked back over to her desk to grab her phone, she noticed those pictures that Paul had shown her. She then began to feel sick to her stomach as her heart broke in two even more. What did she do to deserve this? She couldn't come up with an answer. Stephanie grabbed the picture of her and "Adam" sitting on the swing. Something about the picture didn't look right. It also looked very familiar. Nothing was coming to mind. She set the picture back down on her desk. Stephanie then shook her head. Why was she keeping these pictures in the first place. She then grabbed the pictures and threw them in the trash can next to her desk. After that, Stephanie made her way downstairs again leaving her cell phone on her desk. She walked into her father's office before leaving.

"Hey Dad?" Stephanie questioned.

"Yes Baby?" Vince asked looking up from his paperwork.

"I'm going to head over to Stacy's house." Stephanie gave a small smile.

"You two are talking now?" Vince wondered.

"Not really." Stephanie said honestly. "I was hoping to go over there and fix everything."

"Oh, ok." Vince smiled. "See you when you get home."

"Bye Daddy." Stephanie smiled as she left his office.

With that said and done Stephanie opened up the front door and walked out. She sighed as the wind blew past her. She head down the street to Stacy's house. Stephanie went the normal way to Stacy's house, seeing that it was the fastest way to get there. It only took 5 minutes to get there instead of the 15 minutes if you went the other way.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy sighed as she laid on her couch. She was super bored. She hated being suspended from school. All of her friends were in school and her parents were at work and she was stuck at home with nothing to do. Nothing was on t.v. except for re-runs. Stacy started playing with her cell phone, just going through her numbers. She came across one number in particular that stood out to her. She sighed again as she looked at the number. She hadn't talked to her since they both had gotten suspended. She wondered what Stephanie was doing at the moment. Stacy felt horrible for what happened between them. Stephanie was telling the truth and was being honest the whole time. Why couldn't she had just believed her best friend? Stacy shook her head. She missed Stephanie.

Stephanie and Stacy were always the two that would scheme up plans against everyone. They were always looking for new pranks and pulling them on anyone they felt. They had the same mind. Stacy couldn't help but smile at the thought of Stephanie. Stacy sat up and ran upstairs. She grabbed her shoes and put them on. Stephanie would be home, and maybe they could talk and possibly work things out. Stacy locked up the house before she left the house.

She would have went the normal way she usually does to Stephanie's house, but she wanted to take some time to think. She needed to think about what to say. She obviously couldn't just walk in to her house and be like "Hey Steph." Stacy figured that she should probably say sorry first. It took Stacy about 15 minutes to make it to Stephanie's house. The only reason it took so long, was because she walked slow on purpose to think some more. Stacy walked up Stephanie's drive way and finally made it too her door. She knocked on the door and waited. Stacy thought about turning around and just leaving now. She figured Stephanie hated her anyways. Right as she was about to leave, Vince opened the door.

"Why hello… Stacy?" Vince was confused.

"Hey Dad." Stacy smiled not liking the look on Vince's face.

"Where's Stephanie?" Vince asked looking around.

"I'm sorry?" Stacy was now confused. "Is Stephanie home?"

"No, she's not." Vince ran a hand over his head.

"Do you know when she'll be home?" Stacy asked. "Or where she went?"

"She left to your house 15 minutes ago." Vince said as a worried expression captured his face.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I really hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope this chapter was as good as the last one. Please don't forget to review. I love reviews and they inspire me to write. Please tell me your thoughts and opinions on any of the storylines and characters. What do you think is going good or bad? What do you think I should do next or in up coming chapters. I want my readers to be apart of the story as well. So again please review and thanks to all who have reviewed. I also hope you liked this chapter.

Citcat


	25. Bad Things Happen To Good People

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 25: Bad Things Happen To Good People

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed my chapter. Please make sure you review. Review mean a lot to me. They inspire me to write. So the more reviews I get, the quicker a chapter should come up. Thanks again to all my readers who reviewed and who read.

XoxoxoxoX

Vince stared at Stacy puzzled. He was sure, that the two girls would have seen each other. Especially if they both were heading for the other's house. He just couldn't believe this. Maybe Stephanie stopped by the store or something first.

"So you didn't see Stephanie on your way over here?" Vince asked with hope in his voice.

"No I didn't." Stacy frowned. "I didn't walk the usual way we always do."

"Damn!" Vince stated with worry as he noticed his wife pull up in the drive way.

"I'm sorry!" Stacy responded now really worried for her best friend.

"It's ok." Vince fidgeted with his hands. "Why don't you come inside, and we'll try and figure this out."

Vince motioned Stacy inside the house as Linda stepped out of her car. He ran a hand through his grey hair thinking of what to tell his wife. He knew that she would ask. Whenever she got home from work, she would always ask how his day went. Then after he would respond, Linda would ask about Shane and then Stephanie. What would he say? He couldn't tell Linda, that her daughter was missing. She would kill him. He put both his hands in his pockets as Linda began to approach him. His heart raced as if he was about to get in trouble for breaking his mother's expensive vase when he was 10 years old. He faked a smile when Linda finally met him on the porch.

"Hey Hun, how was your day today?" Linda smiled kissing her husband.

"It was alright." Vince responded as they went inside the house. "Nothing new."

"That's good." Linda spoke hanging her jacket on the coat rack behind the closed door. "How's Shane?"

"He's fine, he's over at Marissa's right now." Vince was beginning to sweat.

"How's Stepha…" Linda trailed off as she noticed Stacy sitting on the couch in the living room. "Stacy?"

Stacy smiled over at Linda and waved. She wasn't sure what exactly to say. She didn't want to be the one to tell her that her daughter was missing. By the looks of it, it looked like Vince was about to tell her anyway. Linda was really confused to see Stacy sitting on her couch. She hadn't seen Stacy in over a week because of the fight. It was nice to see her, but something just wasn't right with this picture. Stephanie wasn't sitting next to her. Linda knew how much her daughter wanted to make things right with Stacy, so there was no reason that she wouldn't be down here with her. Linda slowly looked at Vince and finally realized the panicked look on his face. It was like a mother's instinct. She just knew exactly what Vince was going to say next.

"Where is Stephanie?" Linda asked her words a bit choked.

"Well…" Vince trailed off.

"Well what?" Linda took a deep breath. "Where the hell is she Vince?"

"I'm not exactly sure at the moment." Vince winced at the rise in Linda's voice.

"How do you not know where she is?" Linda was about to scream.

"She said she was going to Stacy's." Vince defended. "Maybe she's on her way back over here."

"Then why is Stacy here?" Linda began to think bad things.

"They both had the same idea." Vince explained. "They went different routes though, so they didn't pass each other."

The room fell silent. Stacy watched on. She wasn't sure if she should have left or stayed. Of course she stayed, because she wanted to help find Stephanie. Vince tried to stay calm for his wife Linda. He knew she would get this way, and right now they needed someone to stay level headed and it wasn't going to be Linda. Vince watched as Linda looked as if she was looking at him, when she was actually just staring off into space. She had no expression on her face. Vince wondered what was going on in her head. Out of no where, Linda broke down into tears. Vince pulled her into a hug to console her.

"We'll find her Linda." Vince stated rubbing her back. "She's ok."  
"How can you say she's ok?" Linda cried. "You don't even know where she is."

"She's a McMahon." Vince tried to hush Linda. "She knows how to stand her ground."

"I'm sure she's ok Mom." Stacy spoke, she had always called Vince and Linda her mom and dad. "I just know it."

Linda pulled away from Vince and looked directly at Stacy. She shook her head as she let her tears roll down her face. Without a second glance, Linda ran up the stairs to be left alone for the time being. Vince sighed as he watched his wife run up the stairs. He was just as worried for Stephanie's sake, but just showed it in a different way. He looked over at Stacy who was biting her lip. Stephanie wasn't even missing for that long yet. So there was still that possible chance, that she had gone off some where else before actually going to Stacy's. Maybe she would turn up in the next hour or so.

XoxoxoxoX

Paul, Randy, Chris and Trish all sat at the small diner that all six of them would usually go to a few times a week. It was their local hang out spot. Everyone that worked there knew them. They were basically the normal regulars. They all had ordered a milk shake. Chris and Trish decided to just share a large milkshake instead of getting separate ones. After Paul had told his story about Adam, Stephanie and himself things began to feel strange. Well, just for Paul that is. He just got that vibe that something bad was happening. He just blew it off though. He didn't think too much into it. He didn't see any reason to. When the waitress came over to their table, they all thanked her for their milkshakes. Once the waitress set the milkshakes down and left, they began a conversation.

"So what are you going to do now?" Randy asked Paul.

"What do you mean?" Paul looked at Randy.

"You know, with Stephanie." Randy replied.

"I really don't know." Paul answered. "I highly doubt she ever wants to speak to me again."

"I wouldn't want to speak to you either." Trish spoke sipping from her straw of the milkshake.

"My cousin is a kind hearted girl." Chris said shaking his head at Trish. "I'm sure she'll listen to what you have to say."

"Even after I called her…" Paul was cut off by Trish.

"The whore of Greenwich and a slut." Trish stated firmly. "I'm sure she'd still listen to you."

"Yeah, I get it Trish." Paul frowned. "I fucked up!"

"You did more then that." Trish was about to start arguing with Paul when Chris cut her off.

"Ok, that's enough." Chris spoke putting an arm around Trish. "We all get that Paul messed up."

"He broke my best friend's heart!" Trish stated looking at Chris intently. "He deserves to be yelled at."

"I understand where you are coming from." Chris replied. "She is my best friend and cousin too, and I know it upsets you. But you have to remember that Paul is our best friend too."

"It still doesn't give him the right to break her heart." Trish was getting upset now.

"Trish, this is between Paul and Stephanie." Chris explained. "It doesn't involve us, so we need to stay out of it."

"Of course you'd sided with Paul." Trish rolled her eyes.

"I'm not siding with anyone." Chris defended himself.

"Whatever." Trish stood up and walked outside.

"I'll see you guys later." Chris stood up and went after Trish.

Randy and Paul just stared at Chris and Trish. They just sat there not wanting to get involved. They both knew that if they had said anything Trish would have snapped at them. What they didn't understand, was why Trish was so upset over this. Yes, Stephanie was her best friend, and it hurt to see your best friend get hurt, but was it that big of a deal? It must have been, because Trish was really upset by it. Paul sighed again. He did agree with Trish. He screwed up badly and he didn't know what to do. He turned and looked at Randy. He would have asked Randy for help, but knowing his current take on relationships at the moment wouldn't help him. He ran a hand through his hair when Randy began to speak.

"Stephanie has always had a kind heart." Randy spoke. "I'm sure Chris is right, she'll listen to what you have to say."

"I sure hope so." Paul sighed again.

"I'm pretty sure she will." Randy smiled. "We've known her since we have been in diapers. She'll listen."

"Yeah she'll listen, but who is to say she'll forgive me?" Paul asked.

"In time she will." Randy spoke. "You just have to give it time."

"I just can't believe it took me so long to realize this." Paul put his head on the table. "Why didn't I just listen to her in the first place?"

"Because you are a man and you always have to be right." Randy smirked.

"Haha." Paul laughed sarcastically. "The sad thing is, that's true."

"Yeah, it is." Randy shook his head.

"What's up with you and Stacy?" Paul questioned wanting to change topics off of him.

"I'm not sure." Randy answered. "I want to try and work things out with her."

"Like go back out with her?" Paul asked.

"Well, not right now." Randy responded. "I want to fix our friendship first."

"That's good." Paul stated. "You two will work it out."

"Why do we have to be such jerks?" Randy asked now feeling the same way as Paul.

"Its just the way we are." Paul replied. "Without it, life would be so boring."

XoxoxoxoX

Chris ran after Trish who had just walked out of the diner. He looked around outside and finally noticed her sitting on a bench on the side of the diner. He went over there and sat down beside her. When she realized that he was sitting next to her she stood up. Trish was going to walk away but she couldn't. Chris had taken a hold of her arm gently and wouldn't let go. Unwillingly she sat back down. It was quiet for a few moments before Chris began to talk.

"Trish, I understand that you are upset." Chris started. "I am upset too. He hurt my cousin and we all know how important family is to me. I felt like tearing Paul apart. I didn't do that though, because its not my battle to fight. Paul has realized what he's done, and he knows he has to pay the price. We can't get involved in their relationship, because it will only make things work."

Chris paused for a moment hoping to get some reaction out of Trish. She just sat there though. She didn't move or say a word. He wasn't sure if she was even listening. He hoped that she was. As he waited another minute or so, he began to talk again.

"I'm not picking sides." Chris continued. "I'm just trying to stay neutral. There is no way that I could pick between two of my best friends. If I was to pick sides, it would only blow things out of proportion and they don't need that right now. I see both sides of the story, and I'm just trying to help by giving unbiased advice."

Trish sighed as she listened to what Chris had to say. She knew he was right, but she was just really upset that he broke her best friend's heart. Unlike Paul, Trish knew exactly how Stephanie felt. Trish has had her heart broken plenty of times, just like Stephanie. Where as Paul hasn't had his heart broken, unless Trish didn't know about it. Trish knew the pain that Stephanie was feeling. She just hated that someone so close to them could hurt her best friend so bad. That's why she was so upset. Trish slowly turned and looked at Chris. She didn't know why she took it out on Chris and she felt bad for fighting with him.

"I'm sorry." Trish frowned. "Forgive me please?"

"Well, I don't know…" Chris trailed off with a small smirk.

"I really am sorry." Trish pouted. "You were right. I was just upset, because I know exactly how Steph feels."  
"Of course I can forgive you." Chris smiled pulling her into a hug. "I understand how you feel. Really I do."

"I know you do." Trish sighed happily. "I'm sorry I took it out on you."

"Don't worry about it." Chris rubbed her back. "Anytime you are upset, you can take it out on me."

"Really?" Trish smirked. "I'm not going to forget that."

"What have I gotten myself into?" Chris laughed as Trish kissed him on the cheek.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie slowly opened her eyes. She looked around at her dark surroundings. She was in a small brick cellar type area. There was one very small old window for ventilation purposes. The cellar was empty with the exception of an old water heater that hadn't been used in a while. There was a lot of wood and boards as well. She had no clue where she was, and she didn't remember how she got here. When she went to try and rub her eyes she realized that her hands were tied behind her back. Not only that, but she was sitting in a wooden chair that was bolted to the ground. Her hands were also tied to the chair. Stephanie's heart began to race as she realized what was happening. She went to scream, but failed to do so. Tape was covering her mouth. She began to cry silently to herself. She shut her eyes and counted to three. Then she opened them again, hoping she would be back home in her bed. She was hoping that it was just a nightmare. Sadly to say, she wasn't dreaming. Her ears perked up when she heard footsteps coming closer to where she was tied up. The door to the room she was in slowly opened. She realized for the first time that there was stairs leading up to the door. Stephanie's eyes watched as she noticed the person walking down the stairs. She couldn't make out who it was at first. The only thing she could tell, was that it was a male by the darkened figure that she could see. Who would do this to her? Why would someone want to do this to her? Stephanie's eyes widen as she realized who the person was when he turned on the lights.

"Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty." The he smirked.

XoxoxoxoX

Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you all liked this one. I don't think its as good as it could have been, but I promise the next chapter will be better. Don't forget to review please. Thanks!!

Citcat


	26. Missing

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 26: Missing

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: Sorry that the last few chapters have been pretty much focused on Stephanie. But I do promise, that there will be other chapters more focused on the others. It just happened to be Stephanie at first. So please stick with me. Everyone will soon have their spot in the light. Thank you to everyone who reviewed my chapter. Please make sure you review. Review mean a lot to me. They inspire me to write. So the more reviews I get, the quicker a chapter should come up. Thanks again to all my readers who reviewed and who read.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy and Vince were sitting in the living room trying to think of where Stephanie could have been. It had been roughly around 3 hours since Stephanie went missing. In those 3 hours Stacy and Vince both had left the McMahon house in search of Stephanie. They split up looking everywhere for her. They had checked Stacy's house, the store, the park, and every where in the area of Stacy's house because that's where Stephanie was heading. They found no trace of her. After looking for a hour and a half, they both head back to the McMahon house hold.

They hadn't called Trish, Chris, Randy or Paul yet. The reason for that was because they didn't want to worry them just yet. Just in case Stephanie wasn't actually missing. Stacy twirled a finger in her blonde hair as she kept thinking of where Stephanie could have gone. She cursed herself. If only she had went the other way, then none of this would have happened. Vince ran a hand through his gray hair contemplating on what to do next. It was nearing 4 o clock and they still had no idea where Stephanie was. Both Stacy and Vince were knocked out of thought when Linda came running downstairs.

"Have either of you even tried calling her cell phone?" Linda asked in hope.

Vince and Stacy both looked at Linda and then at each other. They felt very stupid at the moment. They should have done that in the first place. Vince quickly stood up and grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. He pressed his speed dial key number 4. The cell phone dialed Stephanie's number. It began to ring. Linda's hopes were beginning to get too high. Right when Linda had thought that maybe Stephanie would answer, she heard Stephanie's phone ringing from upstairs. Obviously coming from her bedroom. When hearing the cell phone ring, Linda broke down in tears again.

"Honey, don't worry we'll find her." Vince sighed going over to his wife.

"She's been missing for 4 hours now!" Linda cried.

"I know, but we need to stay strong for her." Vince soothed his wife.

"What if something has happened to her?" Linda pulled back and looked at Vince.

Stacy watched Vince and Linda. When Linda said "what if something happened to Stephanie?" really got Stacy thinking. What if something really did happen? The last thing she said to her was that she was jealous of her. Then they got into that fist fight. She didn't want Stephanie to think that she hated her. She hoped that Stephanie was ok and nothing was seriously wrong with her. Stacy sighed as she stood up. She was going to leave to go look for Stephanie when Shane came walking in the door.

"Hi Stacy." Shane smiled. "I haven't seen you around in a while."

Stacy stared at him blankly. She didn't know what to say. Shane looked at Stacy oddly. Something was off about Stacy. She wasn't acting her usual bubbly self. Shane looked from Stacy to his parents who were in an embrace at the moment. He looked closer at his mother who was crying. He looked around, but no sign of Stephanie. One last time, he looked from Stacy to his parents.

"Mom, Dad?" Shane stated getting their attention. "Where is Steph?"

Linda buried her head even further in Vince's chest. She kept crying. Shane began to get worried. He didn't need his parents to come right out and say it. He could just tell that something was wrong. It just determined what was wrong. Shane watched on as his mother pulled away from his father.

"I'm going to go call everyone and tell them to keep an eye out." Linda bit her lip holding back more tears. "I'll call the police next.

With that Linda went right back upstairs. Shane looked at his dad. Something was seriously wrong now. Shane then looked over at Stacy who was still standing by the door. She hadn't left yet. Vince walked over to Shane and Stacy. He put his hand on Shane's shoulder. Shane looked up at his dad.

"Dad, what's going on?" Shane asked worried. "Where is Steph?"

"She's missing." Vince sighed. "We haven't seen her in a few hours."

"How does an 18 year old girl go missing?" Shane couldn't figure it out.

"I don't know, but we are doing our best to find her." Vince responded.

Shane couldn't believe what he was hearing. His baby sister was missing. He was only a year older then she was. He was currently attending a community college first. He wasn't exactly ready to attend a four year university. He also had just started dating his girlfriend Marissa, so he didn't want to leave her right away. The biggest reason he chose to go to community college was due to Stephanie. She was really upset about him leaving. Stephanie and Shane were closer then most brothers and sisters are. They had this very unique and strong bond. Why would anyone want to do this to his baby sister?

XoxoxoxoX

Paul and Randy walked out of the diner. As they were leaving, they noticed Chris and Trish still there. They walked over to the two of them. Paul and Randy shook their heads and chuckled. Trish and Chris were making out right in front of the diner.

"Can't you two get a room?" Paul joked.

"Shut up!!" Trish blushed, as well as thinking about this upcoming weekend.

"Yeah, yeah." Chris smirked. "What do you two want now?"

"We we're just leaving and noticed you two were still here." Randy spoke.

"So you had to come over here?" Chris laughed.

"Well, you are our friends." Paul mentioned.

"Are you sure?" Trish smirked. "We could be some strange aliens plotting your death."

Everyone looked at Trish oddly. Trish smirked and put her hands up. They stared at her for a few minutes before shaking their hears.

"Are you ok babe?" Chris asked feeling her forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Trish laughed.

"What's with the aliens?" Randy asked.

"I don't know, what's with Paul's big nose?" Trish giggled.

"Haha." Paul laughed, his nose was always a joke in the group.

They all couldn't help but laugh at Trish. As of late, she had been the most laid back, mellow, and funniest of the group. Trish couldn't help but smile. She loved making her friends laugh. It just made it all that more funny and cute, because Trish was the innocent angel, or so they would say in their group. All four of them continued to talk and laugh for a while. That's when Trish noticed Stacy walking up to them.

"STACY!!" Trish screamed. She hadn't seen Stacy in a while.

"Hey Trish." Stacy couldn't find it in her heart to smile.

"What's wrong?" Trish asked, and without thinking she quickly turned and looked at Randy. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"Not again." Chris said loud enough for himself and Paul to hear.

"I didn't mean to do anything!" Randy was caught of guard and couldn't think of why Trish would blame him. He had forgotten about the Andrew thing.

"Trish, it wasn't…" Stacy was cut off by Trish.

"Randy, I swear you better tell me what you did." Trish demanded.

"TRISH!!" Stacy yelled. "It wasn't Randy."

When Stacy yelled, it got Randy, Paul, Chris and Trish's attention. They all looked at her shocked. Chris was trying to figure out what was wrong with Stacy, so he could stop Trish from getting into a fight with Randy. Paul was curious to know what was up with Stacy, as he hasn't talked to her in a while as well. Randy just wanted to make sure that he had nothing to do with why Stacy seemed so upset at the moment. Trish was taken back when Stacy yelled. She turned around and looked at Stacy. As Trish stared at Stacy, she could tell that Stacy was on the verge of tears. Trish went and hugged Stacy. Once Trish hugged Stacy, Stacy's tears began to roll down her face. The guys were now extremely worried. Why was Stacy crying out of no where for no reason. Things just didn't add up and Stacy just doesn't cry out of no where for no reason. They all waited while Stacy cried for a little bit. They didn't want her choking on her own words because she was crying. Maybe five minutes later Stacy calmed down. Trish sat Stacy down on the little bench that Trish and Chris were sitting on moments ago. Chris was still sitting there and he rubbed Stacy's back trying to give Stacy some form of comfort. Once Stacy start sniffling, she started to speak.

"It's Stephanie." Stacy stiffened a cry.

"What?" Paul asked quickly with shock.

"Steph?" Chris questioned concerned for his cousin.

"Well, I went to go fix things with her earlier today." Stacy choked out.

"Ok, and…" Trish spoke in curiosity.

"I went the long way to her house." Stacy sighed.

"Why didn't you go the normal way?" Randy wondered.

"I needed time to figure out what to say." Stacy said softly.

"Ok, then what happened?" Chris asked.

"Well, when I got there, Dad was surprised to see me." Stacy rubbed her arm. "I thought it was just because I hadn't been there in so long."

"Come on Stace." Paul spoke. "Please, just get to the point."

"Vince said that Steph had left to go see me." Stacy started to cry again.

"Ok, why didn't you go back to your house?" Trish asked listening to Stacy's story.

"I did." Stacy said through tears. "Vince and I went out looking for her."

"Well, did you find her?" Trish questioned.

"No we didn't." Stacy burst into full tears. "We haven't seen her for almost 5 hours now." A hour had roughly passed before Stacy had found the gang.

"SHE'S MISSING!?" All four of them spoke at the same time.

"And its all my fault!!" Stacy cried.

Silence and shock took over everyone in the group. Everyone became speechless, and unaware of what to say. It was as if everyone was dreaming the same thing, and that Stacy hadn't really said that Stephanie was missing. All of them were just waiting, looking at Stacy. When was she going to start laughing and say she was joking. Paul looked around the area. He was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to come out from behind somewhere and say that they all got Punk'd. After a few minutes had passed. Paul realized that wasn't going to happen. Randy just looked on in shock. Stephanie was like his sister. He just couldn't believe that she was missing. It was surreal to him, there was no way possible she would go missing. Chris was overtaken by shock and worry. His cousin was out in this world and not safe. He had no idea where she was, if she was warm, safe, fed or anything. Trish just stared at Stacy. Something wasn't right about this. They lived in a pretty safe neighborhood. Nothing bad had happened since they all had been born and grew up here. There was never any violence, except for the everyday high school drama. Trish figured that Stephanie wouldn't just run away. Everything was ok with her and her family. That's when Trish decided that someone must have taken her. It had to have been someone they knew, because who else would take Steph? Yes, it could have been a stranger, but that just wasn't a normal day occurrence to happen in their neighborhood. As the news was slowly starting to kick in, Adam had walked up to the group of five.

"Hey guys." Adam spoke. "I know, I'm not the best person to see right now…"  
"What the hell do you want?" Paul glared at Adam. "Don't you think you've caused enough trouble already?"

"I just overheard." Adam ignored Paul. "That's Stephanie is missing?"

"Yeah, she's missing." Stacy cried. "And it's my fault."

"It's not your fault Stace." Trish hugged Stacy and looked at Adam. "Wait a minute."

"What?" Adam asked noticing the look that Trish was giving him.

"You fucking took her!" Trish screamed lunging at Adam.

Trish attacked Adam so quick, that it took everyone a bit to realize what had just happened. Paul was the closest to Trish and Adam and he just stared at them. Then he began to laugh. He thought it was funny that Adam was getting beat by a girl. Trish punched Adam square in the eye. Randy was watching on in disbelief. Everything that had transpired in the last 15 minutes, was surreal. Stacy just continued to cry not paying any mind to anyone. Chris looked from Paul to Randy and then to Trish. Why hadn't they even stopped her? Chris hurriedly went over to were Trish was beating Adam. He pulled Trish off of Adam. He was holding her back. When Chris turned to set Trish down next to Stacy on the bench, Paul lunged at Adam. He also started beating the hell out of Adam. When Trish attacked Adam, he let her beat him. He didn't believe in hitting a girl, but when Paul attacked Adam, Adam fought back. Chris decided that if he set Trish down, she was just going to turn around and attack Adam again. So when Chris turned around with Trish still in his grasp he say Paul and Adam going at it.

"GUYS KNOCK IT OFF." Chris yelled. "Randy, get Paul off of him."

Randy shook his head as he went over and pulled Paul off of Adam. But not before getting an elbow to the rib cage. Once Randy had finally pulled Paul off, Adam stood up and took a few steps back. Adam, had a bloody nose and a black eye. He used to sleeve of his shirt and wiped the blood from his nose. What he said next surprised the gang.

"I deserved that." Adam stated.

"Damn right you deserved it." Trish spoke trying to get out of Chris' grasp. "Just wait until he lets me go."

"That's not going to happen." Chris said.

"I just heard that Steph was missing." Adam replied. "I wanted to help find her."  
"We don't need your help." Paul huffed.  
"I want to help find her because I care about her."  
"You care about her?" Paul laughed sarcastically. "That's why you ruined her life."  
"No I didn't." Adam smirked. "You did, by not listening to her."

Paul tried to lung at Adam again for saying that. He failed because Randy still had a hold of him. How dare Adam say he had no part in him making Stephanie's life a wreck. He was the cause of it all. If it wasn't for him, he'd still have Stephanie. If it wasn't for Adam, Stephanie may not be missing.

"Just let me help." Adam pleaded.

"Yeah, you can help." Randy responded. "Tell us where you are hiding her."

"Why do you think I took her?" Adam asked realizing that was a dumb question to ask.

"Please tell me you are joking?" Trish screamed.

"Trish, calm down." Chris soothed her.

"Ok, I can see why you would think I would take her." Adam answered. "But, I care about Stephanie and I don't want her to get hurt."

"That's BS." Paul glared at Adam.

"Believe it or not." Adam stated. "I didn't take her and I will keep my eyes open."

With that said, Adam left. The group just stared after him. Once Adam was surely out of view, Chris let Trish go and Randy let Paul go. Chris looked around at their surroundings. He noticed that it was getting dark. When he looked at his watch, he noticed that it was nearing 8:30 p.m. It was obviously time to get home. The gang spoke and decided to keep an eye out for Stephanie and that they'd talk to people at school tomorrow.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie sighed. She was still tied up to the chair she was currently in. The man had only been down to see her once and that was a few hours ago. She hadn't heard or seen him since. Stephanie tried to untie her hands from the very tight rope that was holding them together. They were cutting off her circulation. The ropes felt so tight, that she swore that she felt blood starting to trickle down her wrist. Stephanie winced in pain, even though she could feel that they were getting loose. Her heart began to race. There was a chance that she could escape. Her fingers started working quickly to try and get the rope undone. That's when she heard the foot steps. He was back. She listened to them, as they go closer and closer. She stopped trying to untie the ropes and sat in the chair patiently. She still couldn't figure out why he would do this to her. She knew why he would. He was practically in love with her. She thought he was more sane then this. Obviously she thought wrong of him. Her heart beat pounded in her chest as he walked downstairs. She had never been afraid of him until now.

"I'm pretty sure everyone is looking for you now." He laughed.

Stephanie just stared at him. It wasn't like she could speak any way.

"What, you can't keep a conversation going with me?" He asked. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Your mouth is taped shut."

The man laughed. Some how he got some sick pleasure out of this. He walked over to Stephanie and ripped the tape off of her mouth. After doing so he went back upstairs. Stephanie took a few deep breaths. She was thankful that he took the tape off. Now would be the best time to scream for help, but she didn't. She couldn't. He'd hurt her and put the tape back over her mouth. Therefore she just sat silently. A minute or two later he came back down the stairs with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He took the sandwich and held it to her mouth. He obviously wasn't going to let her feed herself.

"Well, you better take a bite now." He smirked. "You wont be eating anything later."

Stephanie rolled her eyes as she was hungry, and she was trying to survive. So she took a bite of the sandwich. It had only been five minutes since she was still eating the sandwich. She was only taking small bites. He continued to hold the sandwich to her mouth. No words were spoken. He looked at his watch and shook his head.

"Hurry up." He demanded. "I need to get home. Its 9:00 p.m."

This intrigued Stephanie. She wasn't at his house, so there was no hope of his parents finding her. But it did give her hope that she could escape once he was in school the next morning. Stephanie still sat quietly eating the sandwich.

"Ok, since you wont hurry up…" He started. "I'm saying you're finished."

With that, he took the sandwich and just tossed it across the room. He put the tape back over Stephanie's mouth. He walked over to the stairs and was about to leave. He stopped and turned and looked at Stephanie. He smirked as he walked over to Stephanie. He bent down and got eye level with her. He ran his hand down her soft face. He then placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight Princess." He smiled. "See you tomorrow."

XoxoxoxoX

I hope you all liked this chapter. This chapter is way better then my last one. Please review and let me know your thoughts. Anything you want to see me add into the story. Just let me know, and if I like the idea, I will add it in and give you credit for it. Please review.

Citcat


	27. No Leads Yet

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 27: No Leads Yet

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Tuesday morning couldn't have come any quicker. Knowing that a daughter and a best friend were missing, no one could sleep. This whole thing was driving everyone crazy. Things were a little bit calmer, because Linda had contacted the police. They had reassured Linda numerous times that they would be looking for her and they would let her know if anything came up. After calling the police, Linda had called all of Stephanie's friends and let them know that the police was looking for them. That kind of gave the group some sort of relief, knowing that someone was looking for Stephanie when they couldn't.

Everyone but Stacy met up at school the next morning. Stacy was still suspended, but this free time would give her more of a chance looking for Stephanie. They all drove to school, Paul in his own car and Randy in his own as well. Chris had picked Trish up in his car. While driving to school, they all made sure to keep an eye out for Stephanie or anything out of the ordinary. Once they all got to school, they all went their separate to their first period.

XoxoxoxoX

It was still at least ten minutes before class started. Randy was getting what he needed out of his locker. He wasn't able to sleep last night. He was worried about Stephanie. Sighing to himself he shut his locker and began making his way to class. Walking slowly down the hall he listened to everyone talking. The word about Stephanie got out quickly. He hoped that someone would know something about her whereabouts. Randy wasn't paying attention to where he was going and bumped into John Cena.

"Hey Randy." John said softly. "I heard about Stephanie."

"Yeah, do you know anything?" Randy asked hope clear in his voice.

"No I don't." John frowned. "But if I hear anything I'll let you know."

"Thanks." Randy frowned as well.

"She was like a sister to you huh?" John questioned.

"Yeah, she is." Randy spoke keeping it in present form. He wasn't going to believe that Stephanie was gone forever.

"I'm sorry." John spoke. "Steph was such a great person."

"Why do you keep talking about her like she's gone?" Randy asked getting angry now.

"Oh, am I?" John shook his head. "I didn't mean to."

There was a small pause between John and Randy. John scratched the back of his head and Randy just watched him. Then John spoke before taking off to class.

"I'll catch you later Randy." John stated. "I'll keep my eyes out for Stephanie."

Randy shook his head again. That was really random. John rarely ever came up to him to talk. They weren't really friends. They always were competing against each other. Who was better looking, who was stronger, who could get more girls and so on. Randy did remember that John had a huge crush on Stephanie at one point in time. Stephanie had always flirted with him, just to be nice because she wasn't exactly attracted to him. She believed that John was nice and all, but just not her type. John had gotten upset when he found out that she wasn't interested, but he still continued to flirt with her every once in a while.

The bell sounded, which knocked Randy out of his thoughts. He pushed those thoughts out of his head and walked on to class.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish sat in her first period class. It was History and she was bored. They had a sub and they were basically having free time in class. Nobody ever really did anything when there was a sub. Trish pulled out her cell phone and started playing around on it. She glanced up at the clock to make time pass, but it was useless. She sighed softly as she began to think of something to do. She wished she could be out looking for Stephanie, but she also had to stay in school. Trish was knocked out of her thoughts when Kurt Angle came up and sat by Trish.

"Uh, what do you want Kurt?" Trish asked never really liking Kurt. "I'm not in the mood."

"I just wanted to say hi." Kurt smiled. "Also to see how you were doing."

"I'm just dandy." Trish said sarcastically.

"You can't be dandy." Kurt spoke. "Your best friend is missing."

"How do you know?" Trish questioned looking at Kurt.

"I heard about it." Kurt said a frown forming on his face. "Everyone is talking about it."

"Oh." Trish said sadly.

"I really like Stephanie." Kurt sighed.

"Yeah, I know." Trish rolled her eyes. "We all know."

"I care about her a lot." Kurt stated. "I'm sure she's safe and in good hands."

"How could she be in good hands?" Trish was shocked that Kurt would say that.

"I'm just trying to keep positive Trish." Kurt answered.

"Whatever." Trish ran a hand through her hair.

"I'll help look for her whenever I have the chance." Kurt said lastly and left Trish alone.

Trish watched as Kurt walked back over to his seat. She couldn't believe that Kurt would say that Stephanie was in good hands. How would he know, or how could he say that when he didn't know who had Stephanie. She was thankful that he would help look for her. She knew that Kurt had a big crush on Stephanie since the third grade. He was always talking to her and giving her flowers and trying to be her friend. Stephanie being the nice and friendly person she is, became his friend. She never saw herself with Kurt though. She never told him though, she just couldn't. Stephanie didn't have it in her heart to break his. Trish sighed as she remembered something Stephanie had told her on the first day of school.

__

XoXoX Flashback XoXoX

Stephanie turned around as she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned around she found Kurt Angle standing behind her. She cursed to herself knowing that he still had a crush on her. Kurt was one of the nerds and she just couldn't picture herself going out with him.

"Hi Kurt." Steph smiled at him sweetly.

"Hi Steph, um, these are for you." Kurt said handing her the flowers.

"Thanks Kurt, what are these for?" Stephanie asked politely.

"They are a welcome back present." Kurt smiled at her.

"Well, thanks, they are pretty." Stephanie said smelling the pink carnations.

"I was hoping you'd like them." Kurt said blushing a little.

"Well, I'll see you around then Kurt." Stephanie said leaving him starring after her.

XoXoX End Flashback XoXoX

Trish's cell phone vibrated in her hand knocking her out of her thoughts. She looked down at her cell phone and smiled at the text message from Chris. She replied back to Chris and forgot about her talk with Kurt.

XoxoxoxoX

The morning drug on rather slowly. Paul was getting anxious to get out of class and go look for Stephanie. He needed to find her and make sure that she was sleep. He also needed to tell her that he was sorry and that he was a big idiot for not listening to her. Paul wanted to apologize and make things right. Once he found out she was missing, he couldn't keep her off his mind. He needed to find her. He needed her to be safe, and he was going to do whatever he could to find her and get her back.

Paul exited the classroom when the bell sounded for lunch. He wasn't hungry, so he stopped by his locker and put his books and other items in there. Closing his locker he walked down the hallway. As he was walking down the hallway he saw Adam. He rolled his eyes as Adam tried to give a smile as a small gesture towards Paul. Paul laughed sarcastically. He wondered if Adam was serious. He really thought he could be cool with him and everyone else after what he did. Adam was most of the reason why things were the way they are now. Paul ignored Adam and continued to walk down the hall. When he reached the end of the hall he heard his name being called. Paul turned around and noticed Matt Hardy running after him.

"Thank God I found you." Matt stated taking a few rapid breaths.

"What's up?" Paul asked.

"I heard about the whole Stephanie missing thing." Matt started. "I was just curious if you have any idea or clue what so ever of where she is or who could have taken her?"

"No, we have no idea." Paul sighed. "We don't even know where to start."

"Wow, I'm sorry man." Matt frowned. "Not even the smallest idea of where to start?"

"Nope, nothing." Paul looked at Matt. "She is the kindest person, so its hard to think who would do this to her."

"Well you do know there are a lot of sick people out there." Matt spoke. "It could have been some random stranger."

"Yeah, that's true." Paul continued. "But since when does this stuff actually happen in our neighborhood?"

"That's also true." Matt took in Paul's comment.

"Just keep an eye out for her." Paul said to Matt.

"I sure will." Matt smiled.

With all that said both men went their own ways. Paul continued to walk down another hall. He was trying to think of where Stephanie would be. He hoped that the more people that knew, the quicker they could find Stephanie. It had been 15 minutes since Paul had spoke to Matt, when Paul came to a halt in the hallway. Matt never talks to him. Matt always talked to Randy, Chris, and Trish, but never Paul. It wasn't like they hated each other, they just didn't have any common interests. Paul stopped his thoughts. He did have a common interest with Matt. They both liked Stephanie. Matt had grown a fond interest in Stephanie their freshmen year in high school. They were science partners and that's what started the crush. Matt would always joke around and make a fool of himself to impress Stephanie, but nothing ever really worked so he thought. He continued to like her up until who knows. He could still like her today, but Paul wasn't sure. Stephanie had liked Matt in their sophomore year but he had been dating Amy Dumas or known by the nickname Lita. So Stephanie never confessed her feelings and let them slide.

This all made Paul think. Did Matt still like Stephanie? It was possible that he could. Why else would he randomly come up and talk to Paul. Yes, Stephanie was missing, but he could have talked to Randy, Chris or Trish. Paul shook his head and decided to brush the thought off, but he would keep a close eye on Matt.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris had just dropped Trish off at her 5th period and was now making his way to his class. He had to hurry, because his class was on the other side of campus. If he didn't hurry, he would be late. Chris made it to his class just as the bell sounded. He had P.E. and he need to change. He walked into the men's locker room, and made his way to his gym locker. He turned the dial for his combination and opened the locker. He took his t-shirt off and threw it in the locker. Chris then began to put deodorant on. He always had to put it on before and after gym. It was just a habit he had. When he was finished with the deodorant, he placed it on the shelf in his locker.

"Hey Jericho can I borrow your deodorant?" Shawn Michaels asked as they shared the same area of changing.

"Yeah sure." Chris tossed his deodorant to Shawn.

"I heard about your cousin." Shawn stated swiping the deodorant under his armpits.

"Yeah, its been on my mind all day." Chris sighed.

"I'm sorry." Shawn handed the deodorant back to Chris. "If I can be of any help just let me know."

"Yeah, thanks." Chris said.

"I haven't seen Paul all day, so could you tell him the same thing." Shawn spoke thinking of his good friend Paul Levesque.

"Yeah, not a problem." Chris answered.

"You're really upset about this huh?" Shawn asked as he rubbed sweat away from his forehead.

"She's my cousin and best friend." Chris broke down in tears. "I should have been there for her."

"Whoa, dude." Shawn put his hands up. "Calm down dude."

"Sorry, I just feel horrible that I couldn't prevent this from happening." Chris wiped at his eyes.

"I know what you mean." Shawn sighed. "But your tears are safe with me."

"Thanks." Chris gave a small smile.

"No problem." Shawn smirked. "I'll keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary."

Shawn then put his tank top on and left the men's locker room. Chris took a few extra minutes suiting up and regaining his composure. He was thankful to be able to talk to Shawn and let his tears fall. He knew Shawn wouldn't say a word, or at least he hoped. It was a bit strange though. He had never talked to Shawn in a serious tone. When ever Chris would talk to Shawn, Shawn was always off getting in trouble or making some funny comment. Chris laughed to himself as he thought of one of the pranks Shawn and Paul had pulled at school last year. Paul and Shawn were known as the trouble makers, and so they called themselves Degeneration X or DX for short. Chris remembered that Paul and Shawn used to be really close, up until their junior year. That's when Shawn developed a crush on Stephanie. Shawn had told Paul that he was starting to like Stephanie, and Paul didn't like that one bit. Paul lied to Shawn and told him that it was cool and that he could make a move if he wanted to. Paul then told Chris the opposite of what he told Shawn. So Paul was never cool with it. Shawn had asked Stephanie out on a date, and they hit it off great. They dated for about six months before calling it quits. Stephanie had left him, because she had lost interest in him. They stayed friend through everything though.

Chris rubbed his head and stood up. He ignored those last thoughts about Shawn, Stephanie and Paul. He was thinking too much into them. He threw on his tank top and made his way out to the gym. He lined up against the wall on his number, as the teacher took roll. He figured, once the day was over that he would gather the others and they'd go make flyers and hang them up. Someone would have to see the flyer and know something.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy sighed as she waited for the school bell to ring. When the bell rings it would mean that school was out for the day. That's when Stacy would start handing out flyers. She had been looking for Stephanie all day and when she had no luck she went home. That's when she decided to make flyers with Stephanie's picture on them. She only made one though, and then she took them to Kinko's which was a copy maker place. She had them make her 500 copies of the flyers. Stacy made sure they bundled them in stacks of 100 so she could give them to her friends to pass out and hang up. Straight from Kinko's Stacy made her way to school and waited for the bell to sound. In a matter of seconds the bell had gone off and students came flying out of the building. Stacy was handing people the flyers as they walked by her. She continued to do so until Ken Kennedy walked up to her.

"Hey Stacy, its nice to see you again." Ken smiled.

"Uh, its nice to see you too." Stacy spoke.

"What are you handing out there?" Ken asked.

"Flyers to help find Stephanie." Stacy said giving one to Ken. "You haven't happened to have seen her around have you?"

"I can't say that I have." Ken answered looking at the flyer.

"I know that you two have history, but could you at least keep an eye out?" Stacy begged.

"You act as if I hate her and don't care about her anymore." Ken looked up at Stacy.

"You did say that she would regret the day that she broke up with you." Stacy defended.

"Yeah I did, but do you think I would stoop this low?" Ken asked. "Come on Stacy, Steph and I dated in our freshmen year. I think I'm over it."

"Yeah, I guess so." Stacy frowned.

"I will keep an eye out for her." Ken said patting Stacy's shoulder.

"Thanks." Stacy kind of smiled as Ken left.

Stacy rolled her eyes once Ken left. She didn't buy one word he said. At this point, she didn't believe what anyone was saying. Everyone was guilty until proven innocent. She knew Ken was still head over heels for Stephanie. They all shared a few classes together and she saw the way he looked at her. Stacy had even caught him following her home one time, but when he noticed Stacy watching him, he left. Stephanie and Ken's break up was pretty funny actually. Well, it was funny now thinking back on it, but at the time it wasn't. Stephanie wasn't interested in Ken anymore, and decided to end things. Ken wasn't going to have it and he begged Stephanie to stay with him. He told her he could make things work and so Stephanie gave him another shot thinking that maybe it was just an off day. The very same day Stephanie goes over to Ken's house just to hang out because he had asked to her to come over. She got there and the door was wide open so she let herself in. She heard Ken's voice from upstairs and she thought he had called her. When Stephanie made it upstairs she saw Ken cheating on her with some random girl. That was the end of them right there.

Stacy pushed all of those thoughts out of her head as she continued to hand out her flyers once more. She gave a soft smile to Trish, Chris, Paul and Randy who were coming up to her at the moment. Stacy still was upset with Randy and didn't want much to do with him, but she need to get along with him for Stephanie's sake. If they were to argue they may missing something to do with Stephanie.

"Hey Stace." Trish hugged Stacy. "What are these?"

"Flyers, I made you all copies to post up and hand out." Stacy said giving them their bundle.

"You read my mind." Chris kind of laughed. "I was thinking about doing this in gym."

"Well, we better get started hanging these up." Paul spoke in a hurry. He wanted to find Stephanie as fast as he could.

"Hopefully someone will have some information." Randy sighed.

With all of that said, they all went a different way in their cars, except for Stacy who walked. They figured that they would get more ground covered if they all went different ways. All of them began hanging up the flyers, in hope of some answers.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie was still working on getting the ropes off from around her wrists. It was hard because her fingers couldn't bend that far to untie the ropes. She did have some luck though. The ropes had stopped cutting her circulation off, so that was a good thing. Stephanie was very paranoid as she swore she heard footsteps above her head. Very time she heard footsteps she stopped trying to free her hands from the ropes. If she hadn't been so paranoid she would have been able to free herself. She was a bit thankful that her kidnapper hadn't tied her feet to the chair. Her heart began to race as she felt the loose ties of the rope slipping loosely around her wrists. Stephanie managed to somehow smile under the tape covering her mouth as she felt the rope slip from her wrists to the ground. As she went to stand up, she realized that her waist was tied to the chair as well. Why hadn't she noticed that before? She didn't take much time to think about it, as her hands made her way to the second rope.

Stephanie was about to untie that rope when saw the door open. She cursed herself for not being quicker. She quickly put her hands behind her back to make them look like they were still tied. When she looked up to see her kidnapper, she became confused. The man that was here now was not the same person she had seen just the other day. She knew this man too. He also liked her but she thought he had gotten over that. She swore he had moved on from her in so many different ways. Why would he do this if he only liked her though? Unless he secretly loved her. That was a good maybe. Her heart began to race as she realized that the two men must be in on this together. Why were they doing this? Who knows, but she knew that they both shared the same interest and that was her. She focused her attention as he came closer to her. She hoped and prayed that he would not see the rope lying on the floor.

"Hello Princess." The second man spoke walking up to her. "I bet you weren't expecting to see me."

The man watched her closely. She looked scared out of her mind and he loved it. He smiled as he ran a hand through her hair. Stephanie turned her head from his hand feeling disgusted. He laughed as his head turned to the door. There at the top of the stairs he saw the first kidnapper. As the first kidnapper made his way down the stairs the second one stepped back from Stephanie.

"How is our little Princess doing?" Number one asked.

"I'm not sure, she's not very talkative today." Number two laughed.

"I bet." Number one spoke. "So, did you talk to her friends today like planned?"

"Yeah I did." Number two answered.

"Well?" Number one questioned.

"They have no leads." Number two replied. "They wont even think twice about us."

"Are you sure?" Number one asked.

"I'm positive." Number two smirked. "We just have to keep a low radar."

Number one looked over at Stephanie and smirked. She would be all his once everything was set and done. He made a bargain with Number two, that if he helped him, that he would give her up to him. This plan would work, they just needed to stay low and be patient.

"You hear that Stephanie?" Number one looked at Steph. "They don't even know where you are."

Stephanie looked Number one right in the eyes. She couldn't believe he was doing this to her. How could a person be so cold and evil. She thought they both were sweet and caring, but obviously she thought wrong. She turned her head from Number one and looked at the only window in the room.

"You aren't going anywhere anytime soon." Number one laughed. "So don't get any ideas."

"I think she already has." Number two said picking up the rope that was once tied around Stephanie's wrists.

"Are you trying to escape?" Number one asked ripping the tape off of her mouth. "Because you wont get away."

Stephanie squealed in pain as the tape left a red mark across her mouth. She tried to hold back her tears, but she couldn't. She let her tears fall as Number two tied the rope back around her wrists even tighter then before. She winced in more pain when he double knotted the rope. Stephanie was just trying to understand where all of this was coming from. These two men would never hurt a fly, so why were they hurting her? Stephanie put her head down because she didn't want to look at them. Number one lifted her chin gently up to meet his.

"If I catch you trying to escape again…" Number one continued. "There will be hell to pay."

With that said, Number one put the tape back on her mouth with a smirk. Number two left up the stairs to make some lunch for Stephanie. They had to keep her fed, or else she would die and they didn't want that. They wanted her to be ready for when they made her theirs.

Once Number two was out of sight, Number one turned back towards Stephanie. He shook his head at her and laughed.

"You really think you can get away from me?" Number one questioned.

Without any hesitation, he slapped Stephanie across the face very hard. That one blow knocked Stephanie out for who knows how long.

XoxoxoxoX

I hope you all liked this chapter. I think its pretty good. All feedback is welcome. So who do you think these two men are?

Citcat


	28. Abandoned Memories

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 28: Abandoned Memories

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

It was now 5:30 p.m. and the gang met up at their spot in the diner. They all had managed to put up and hand out all of their flyers. Sadly, they hadn't learned anything new on Stephanie missing. This was driving everyone crazy and it was starting to worry them as well. Sure, she has only been missing since Monday, so that means she's been gone for only two days. A lot can happen in two days when someone is missing. The worst could happen, but they were trying to avoid that thought coming into their minds.

No one could eat, so they all just ordered a drink. It was mainly quiet at the table. The silence was depressing to everyone. They would always talk about anything and everything, but with Stephanie missing everyone had become speechless. What could a person say? What could a person do? But sit and wait. Paul sighed as he broke the silence.

"Well, we aren't going to find her by just sitting here." Paul spoke running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, we know." Stacy said. "But we've looked everywhere."

"Obviously we haven't looked everywhere!" Paul shouted becoming more worried every second.

"You aren't the only one that's worried about her Paul." Stacy looked up at him.

"Then why aren't you guys doing anything about it?" Paul demanded wanting answers.

"What more can we do?" Stacy sighed. "We've done everything."

"You know, if it wasn't for you…" Paul glared at Stacy. "She wouldn't be missing right now."

Everyone just stared at Stacy and Paul arguing back and forth. Their eyes widen when Paul blamed Stacy for Stephanie's disappearance. No one said anything as they didn't want to interfere in the argument. Trish looked over at Stacy who looked like she was about to cry. Trish placed an arm around Stacy, but her arm was declined by Stacy standing up. Without any hesitation Stacy slapped Paul across the face and stormed out of the diner. Chris and Randy couldn't believe that Stacy had slapped Paul. He did deserved it though. Trish shook her head as she stood up as well.

"If you are going to blame anyone, you might as well blame yourself." Trish glared at Paul. "If you would have just listened and believed her about Adam, then none of this would have happened."

With that said, Trish slapped Paul across the face as well, but harder. She then went after Stacy. Paul grabbed his cheek as he could feel the burn of both slaps. He sighed as he placed his head down on the table and he banged his fist on the table loudly. He was angry, upset, pissed and worried that the worst had happened. Chris and Randy looked from Paul to one another. They were even more speechless then before, but Randy managed to muster up something to say.

"She has to still be out there." Randy spoke. "If we haven't found her, then we must not have looked everywhere."

"Yeah, that's true." Chris sighed. "Maybe if we knew who took her, we'd know where she was."

"How are we supposed to figure out who took her?" Randy asked.

"We need to think of the facts." Chris answered. "We know that it had to be someone she knows."

"Yeah, because this doesn't usually happen in our neighborhood." Randy replied. "We must know the person too."

"Ok, it can't be one of her friends." Chris began. "They wouldn't have a reason to take her if they are friends."

"So that clears us up out of the picture." Randy kind of joked trying to make light of the situation at hand.

Chris looked up at Randy just giving him the look. The look to not joke around about this. It simply was not the time for jokes. Randy scratched the back of his neck before he started to think again.

"Maybe its one of her enemies?" Chris thought out loud.

"Yeah, that's right." Randy rolled his eyes. "If she had any enemies."

"True." Chris sighed.

"If only she wasn't so friendly." Randy shook his head.

"Has Stephanie hurt anyone emotionally?" Chris asked thinking. "Maybe it wasn't intentionally."

When Chris asked that question Paul's head shot up from the table. He looked at Chris and Randy who both had diverted their attention to Paul's actions. Without speaking Paul stood up and ran out of the building and to his car. He wasted no time speeding off to who knows where.

"Do you think he knows something?" Randy asked.

"Randy…" Chris sighed. "Shut up!"

XoxoxoxoX

Paul drove like a mad man. He was on a mission to find Stephanie, and he was going to pay a little visit to Adam. When Chris asked if Stephanie had hurt anyone emotionally, Adam was the first person to enter Paul's mind. Adam had made a move on Stephanie and she turned him down. This caused Adam to go crazy. He then photo chopped pictures to make Paul believe that Stephanie was cheating on him. Paul hit himself mentally in the head. He should have known better then to believe anything Adam said or did, but it was too late for that. Paul made a sharp turn and pulled into Adam's drive way. He sighed as he didn't see Adam's car around. Paul got out of his car and made his way to the front door. He knocked a few times when Adam's mom answered the door.

"Hello, can I help you?" Mrs. Copeland asked.

"Is Adam around?" Paul questioned.  
"No, he actually just left a few minutes ago." She smiled. "I'm not sure when he'll be back."

"Ok, thanks." Paul sighed. "Can you tell him that Paul Levesque is looking for him."

"Of course." She replied. "Are you a friend of his?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Paul shook his head.

With no luck at Adam's house, the only other person Paul could think of was Matt. Yes, Matt must know something about it. Why else would he come up to him at school all random. Paul couldn't take any chances. He had to talk to Matt. He sped down the street making a few lefts and rights along the way. Ten minutes later, Paul pulled up into Matt's driveway. There was a blue convertible, a red truck and a maroon car. Paul knew that Matt's mom had passed away when he was twelve, so this meant that Matt had to be home. One of these cars had to be his. He wasn't sure which one though. Paul stopped thinking and got out of the car. He ran up to the door and started knocking. Matt answered the door. Just the person Paul wanted to talk to.

"Paul?" Matt was confused. "What are you doing at my house?"

"What do you know about Stephanie?" Paul demanded.

"What?" Matt asked.

"I know you are in on this some how." Paul yelled. "Why else would you come up to me asking about her."

"I was worried about her." Matt took a step back from Paul. "She is my friend."

"You took her because she couldn't go out with you." Paul glared at Matt.

"Do you really think I would take Stephanie?" Matt questioned. "I've got my own girlfriend to worry about."

"You're still with Amy?" Paul wondered.

"Yeah I am." Matt gave Paul an odd look. "Now, could you excuse me, I've got to go meet her."

"I'm trusting you." Paul watched as Matt went over to the blue convertible.

"Like I said, Stephanie is a friend of mine." Matt started. "I wouldn't want to hurt her in anyway."

Paul nodded at Matt and Matt took off in his convertible. Paul sighed to himself. He mentally checked off Matt from his list of suspects. This narrowed the list down by nothing. To him, everyone that they went to school with was guilty until proven innocent. Adam was at the top of the list. Paul would have to make sure to stop by Adam's house again to get some answers.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy and Trish had been walking in silence. Trish had caught up with Stacy when she ran out of the diner. She had asked Stacy if she was ok, but she got no response. They just kept walking. They were about 4 blocks away from the diner when Stacy stopped suddenly. She turned quickly and looked at Trish. It was quiet for a moment while Trish wondered why Stacy stopped. Trish was going to ask, when Stacy started talking.

"This really is my fault." Stacy cried finally wanting to talk. That's why she stopped.

"Don't listen to Paul." Trish sighed hugging her friend. "It's not your fault."

"Sure it is." Stacy continued to cry. "I started the fight that got us suspended. I wasn't there for her when she needed me. I didn't call and tell her I was coming to say sorry. I didn't go the way I always go when I know I should have."

"Stacy Ann-Marie Keibler!" Trish shouted. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

Stacy feel silent when Trish raised her voice. Her heart began to race as she watched Trish who was looking right at her.

"This isn't your fault." Trish stated. "You didn't know that some sick freak was going to take her."

"But I…" Stacy was cut off by Trish.

"No buts about it." Trish sighed. "If its anyone's fault, its Paul's fault."  
"But he didn't do anything." Stacy was unaware of Paul and Stephanie's situation because she hadn't spoken to Stephanie since the suspension.

"It's a long story that Stephanie will tell you later." Trish smiled. "Because we will find her."

"I hope you're right." Stacy sighed as she looked over at the house that they had stopped in front of.

Trish and Stacy looked at the house. It was an abandoned house. The windows were all boarded up, except for a small one that was near the ground. It lead to the basement. The girls just stared at the house. That house brought back so many memories to them. Their friend Ashley Massaro used to live in that house. When they were 10 years old they all would go over to their house and hang out. You could kind of say that Ashley made the group of six a group of seven. That was until her and her family hit rock bottom and had to leave. Ashley and the gang were only 14 when Ashley moved. They abandoned the house and that was that. No one really knew the reason why they left. They missed her dearly though.

"We had some good times in that house." Trish kind of smiled.

"Yeah we did." Stacy sighed. "Like when we would play hide and seek."

"And you would always be the last to be found." Trish thought. "Wait, you always came out before we could find you."

"I know." Stacy smirked.

"And you'd be the last out." Trish wondered. "Where the hell did you ever hide?"

"You all came close to finding me." Stacy giggled. "I always hid behind that broken water heater."

"You fit behind there?" Trish was shocked. "No wonder we couldn't find you."

"Do you want to go inside?" Stacy asked.

"I guess." Trish sighed. "It'd bring back some good memories."

With that said, Stacy and Trish walked into the old abandoned house. They looked around with small smiles. The floors were squeaky with every step they took. Stacy walked into the living room as Trish continued on past the living room. The couch and coffee table was still there in the same spot. It was old and beaten down. The fireplace was rusty as well. Stacy walked over to the window that was in the living room and looked at a black truck that was parked on the side of the house. The truck looked familiar but she shook it off. When Stacy and Trish were outside looking at the house, they couldn't see the truck. Stacy wondered if it was the owner's truck. She got worried and went to find Trish.

While Stacy was in the living room, Trish went to the kitchen. She smiled as she remembered coming downstairs during one of their many sleepovers. They would get ice and put it down the pajama bottoms of whoever fell asleep first. It was usually Stephanie who would fall asleep first. Trish frowned at the thought of Stephanie. She wished that they could find her. Trish sighed as she opened the cupboards. Her head tilted to the side as she looked from the cupboards to the sink. There were dishes in the sink. She wouldn't have thought anything of it, but the house was abandoned and these dishes looked to be used. From looking at the sink, she looked at the counter and noticed a fresh loaf of bread. Trish's head shot up and looked over to the door. She swore she heard something coming from there. The door she looked at lead to the basement. Trish walked over to the door and placed her hand on the door knob. Trish was about to turn the knob when Stacy ran into the kitchen.

"We got to get out of here." Stacy said in a hurry.

"What? Why?" Trish questioned.

"I think the owner of the house is here." Stacy spoke. "I saw a truck parked outside."

When Stacy said her last line, they both bolted out of the house. They knew that they could get in trouble for being there. As they ran, Trish noticed a green car drive by them rather slowly. Trish looked back while running, and noticed the car pull up next to the truck. Trish shook her head and turned and looked forward. She just hopped that they didn't see Stacy and herself inside the house. They kept running until they we sure they were away from the house. That's when they stopped running to catch their breath.

"I swear, if its not the owner in that house." Trish breathed. "Bums are living there."  
"What makes you say that?" Stacy asked.

"I saw dirty dishes in the sink." Trish started. "And fresh bread."

"Well, at least the bums have somewhere to sleep at night." Stacy giggled.

"Oh shut up." Trish laughed as they both continued to walk again.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie started to move her head as she heard voices talking. She could still feel the sting from getting slapped across the face. She opened her eyes with her head still looking down at her legs. She noticed blood on her pants. Her heart began to race as she knew that the blood must have been from the blow she received. Her ears perked up as she listened to the two men talk.

"What do you mean they were here?" Number one asked.

Number one had recently pulled up to the house. He had noticed Trish and Stacy running, but he didn't know what they were running from. He found out what it was when he got back to the house. Himself and Number two were currently speaking in the basement. They both thought that Stephanie was still knocked out cold.

"I don't know why they were here." Number two answered. "They just randomly came in here from what I know."

"I leave for a half hour and this happens?" Number one was pissed.

"Its not like I was flaunting her off so everyone could see." Number two stated.

"You don't think they know do you?" Number one asked.

"Knowing Stacy and Trish." Number two started. "They probably don't have a clue."

Stephanie's heart began to beat twice as fast. Stacy and Trish were in the same house as she was at the same time. Why hadn't they found her though? They must have been looking for her. Stephanie stopped her thoughts to listen, so maybe she could get some answers for herself.

"They better not have a clue." Number one sighed.

"They saw my truck though." Number two confessed.

"How do you know?" Number one asked.

"Well, my cell phone went off while I was down here." Number two started. "I think Trish was going to come down here if it wasn't for Stacy saying she see a truck outside."

"I think we should move locations." Number one said thinking. "They could be catching on to us."

"Well, where are we going to move to?" Number two asked.

"I don't know." Number one said. "We'll stay here until we can find a different place."

"Right." Number two said as he looked at Stephanie.

"We need to take shifts." Number one spoke. "Staying with her, to make sure we don't have any problems."

"Ok, we can work that out upstairs." Number two said heading up the stairs.

Number one ran a hand through Stephanie's hair before heading up the stairs as well. When she heard the door shut she looked up. Trish and Stacy were so close to finding her. She hoped that whatever reason they came to this house, that they'd come back. Hopefully come back before they moved locations.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please review. Let me know what you think. Any idea who number one and two are yet?

Citcat


	29. Rescued

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 29: Rescued

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: Sorry for the long awaited chapter update. I've been super busy as of late. My chapter updates will probably be spread out in a time span now. I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

It was now Saturday morning. Three days had went by slowly and terribly. There was still no sign of Stephanie. She had been missing for five days now, going on the sixth day if they couldn't find her. So far, Matt has been the only one that Paul believes isn't Stephanie's kidnapper. He talked to the rest of the gang, excluding Stacy because she was still upset with him blaming this on her. Paul had asked him if anyone had come up to them and asked about Stephanie. They all told them who had come up to them and Trish had told Paul who went up to Stacy. So now Paul had a list narrowed down to John Cena, Kurt Angle, Ken Kennedy, Shawn Michaels and Adam Copeland.

Paul was trying to eat what little was on his plate. He had to eat something, or his mother would be all down his back about staying healthy. He was more worried about Stephanie. Though the thought of her being hurt and worse came to his mind so many different times. He just hoped that he could find her soon and apologize to her and make everything right. As he thought of that, he remembered all the things he had said to her. Now he was worried that if they did find Stephanie, would she forgive him?

It was nearing eleven thirty. He was going to go narrow this list down as well as pay Adam another visit. Adam was number one on his list. When he walked outside he noticed Shawn walking down the street. Shawn had talked to Chris the other day, so he was on the list too. Paul chased after Shawn while calling out his name. He needed to clear this up.

"Oh, hey man!" Shawn stopped in his tracks. "What's up?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Paul glared.

"Excuse me?" Shawn was confused.

"What did you do with Stephanie?" Paul demanded.

"What do you mean?" Shawn asked. "Do you think I took her?"

"You have reason to." Paul stated his eyes never leaving Shawn.

"Really, and what reason is that?" Shawn questioned.

"She broke up with you, because she lost interest in you." Paul answered.

"Yeah, and we stayed friends." Shawn rolled his eyes. "Good friends."

"I'm supposed to believe that?" Paul asked.

"Yeah you are." Shawn said firmly looking directly in Paul's eyes.

Paul stared into Shawn's eyes for a good amount of time. Something about Shawn's eyes made Paul believe him. He knew Shawn better then that, but he couldn't take any chances. As he eliminated Shawn from the list, he was starting to get worried that none of them even had her. That some sick pervert really took her.

"I'm sorry man." Paul sighed. "I just really want to find her."

"We all do." Shawn spoke.

"Yeah, I guess." Paul responded. "I guess I'll see ya around."

"See ya!" Shawn said as he continued his walk.

Paul watched Shawn walk away. Shawn and him used to be so close. He should have known Shawn wouldn't do that. Paul had forgotten about Shawn's new Christian ways. Shawn was religious and that would be a sin to kidnap Stephanie. Paul shook his head as he walked down the street in the opposite direction.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy had stayed the night at Trish's house the pervious night. They had sat up most of the night thinking up ideas of where Stephanie could be and who could have taken her. They both kept ending back up at square one. They had both fallen asleep on Trish's bedroom floor. They were both laying on papers. Trish's brother Calvin walked into Trish's room and smirked at the two girls on the floor. They deserved to have a good laugh. They both had been so upset as of late that Calvin decided to play a prank on them. He had made them breakfast as a back up so they wouldn't be mad at him for what he was about to do.

Calvin walked over to each of the girls and took one of the markers that were on the floor with the papers. He began to draw funny faces on each of the girls' faces. As he crept back to the door and made his way out he slammed the door shut loudly. Stacy and Trish's heads shot up at the exact same time and they both looked at each other. A small smile formed on both of their faces as they both began to laugh seeing the other's face. They laughed for a good five minutes before they realized that they were both laughing, but obviously for different reasons.

"What's so funny?" Trish laughed.

"Your face." Stacy laughed as well.

"No, your face." Trish giggled.

"No, its your face." Stacy chuckled.

"No.." Trish stated standing up taking Stacy to the mirror. "See, its yours."

They both looked in the mirror to see both of their faces. Once reality kicked in they both screamed. Calvin smirked downstairs and kept in a laugh. He began to count down on his fingers. Five, four, three, two… One. Trish and Stacy were downstairs like clock work. He smiled his most genuine smile he could. This was going to be probably the only prank he would ever really get out of.

"Good morning." Calvin smiled.

"Calvin, what the hell?" Trish yelled.

"Trish, stop." Stacy kind of smiled. "Look."

Trish gave her brother one last glare before she turned and looked at the table that had food set up on it. There was pancakes, bacon, toast, eggs and other things. Trish looked back at her brother a gave a small sigh.

"I guess you get off easy this time." Trish shook her head.

"I thought you could use a good laugh." Calvin stated. "You've been so upset lately, I wanted to see you laugh."

"Thanks Calvin." Trish gave her brother a hug and sat down.

"She'll be ok." Calvin smiled and walked out of the room.

Stacy sat down with Trish and they both started eating. Unlike Paul, when the girls were upset, they ate and ate and ate. Food was a comfort food to both girls and they could eat for days. The continued to eat when Stacy started conversation.

"Your brother is pretty awesome." Stacy sighed. "It was sweet that he did this."

"Yeah it was." Trish spoke. "I just wish we could find Stephanie soon."

"Me too." Stacy said.

"You don't think she's…" Trish trailed off.

"No, of course not!" Stacy said shocked that Trish would even think that.

"Its been five days though." Trish stifled a cry.

"Stephanie is a McMahon and a fighter." Stacy stated. "She wouldn't give up without a fight."

"Yeah, you are right." Trish sighed. "I just really want to find her."

The girls both continued to eat for a bit. It was quiet for a few minutes when Trish started talking again.

"Maybe you and Paul should talk this thing out." Trish suggested.

"Why should I have to talk to him?" Stacy asked. "He's the one blaming me."

"That's true, but he's just as worried as we are about Stephanie." Trish answered.

"Yeah, true." Stacy continued. "But I'm upset as well, and I'm not blaming others."

"Stace, don't forget that he is a guy." Trish sighed. "Guys don't think reasonably."

"I'll think about it." Stacy sighed.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris came down the stairs from his bedroom. He had just finished getting showered up and dressed. As he made it to the bottom of the steps he walked to the table by the door and grabbed his keys. He looked up at himself in the mirror that was above the table. He couldn't lie to himself. He thought he looked pretty sexy today. He had faded blue jeans on and a white button up collared shirt. The top three buttons were left undone. He smirked at himself. He was drop dead gorgeous. He was on his way to see Trish. He always loved to look his best when he was around her. He grabbed the door knob and went to walk out the door when he felt a hand knock on his forehead.

"What the hell?" Chris questioned rubbing his head as he looked up to find Randy standing there.

"You opened the door when I was knocking." Randy smirked holding in laughter.

"Whatever!" Chris said shaking his head walking out the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Randy asked.

"I'm on my way to see Trish." Chris smiled thinking of her.

"I'm coming." Randy smiled.

"No your not." Chris stated walking ahead of him.

"Why not?" Randy questioned disappointed.

"Because I said so." Chris smirked giving Randy a hard time. He was going to let him come anyways.

"Why can't I come?" Randy started. "I'm friends with both of you, so I don't see a problem."

"I see a problem." Chris smirked.

"What is that?" Randy asked looking at his friend.

"That you don't get a joke." Chris laughed.

"I do get a joke." Randy replied. "So what is the real problem?"

Chris shook his head as he laughed at Randy some more. He pulled out his cell phone as he felt it vibrate in his pants pocket. Ignoring Randy completely he took his cell phone out and answered the phone as he continued to walk.

"Hello?" Chris spoke into the phone.

"Hey Babe!" Trish smiled into the phone.

"How are you doing today beautiful?" Chris asked.

"I'm better I guess." Trish answered. "Calvin made us breakfast."

"Breakfast, sounds good." Chris stated ignoring the 'us' that Trish mentioned.

"Yeah it was." Trish spoke. "Are you on your way over?"

"Yeah, I've got a stalker coming with me as well." Chris laughed.

"Who?" Trish asked with curiosity.

"Randy." Chris answered. "I swear he was dropped on his head too many times as a baby."

"Randy can't come over!" Trish said quickly as Stacy was currently not in the same room as her.

"What? Why not?" Chris questioned.

"Stacy's over here." Trish replied. "You know the whole history between the two."

"Yeah, they could blow up in each others faces at any given time." Chris sighed.

"Yeah, so you need to tell him no." Trish said.

"I'll try, though I don't think it is going to work." Chris responded.

"What, why not?" Trish asked.

"I already told him he couldn't go." Chris continued. "Then I said it was a joke. Though I don't think he fully understood the joke."

"OH!! You were joking that I couldn't come over with you." Randy laughed. "I get it now."

"Please tell me that wasn't Randy?" Trish sighed into the phone.

"Sorry to tell you this, but yeah it was Randy." Chris answered.

"Well, you need to break the news to him." Trish stated.

"Well, why can't Stacy leave?" Chris questioned.

"She was here first, and she's staying the entire weekend." Trish replied.

"Fine, I'll talk to him." Chris said. "See you soon!"

"Bye." Trish said as she waited for Chris to hang up.

Oddly, she could still hear the conversation going on with Randy and Chris. As bad as it was, she was curious as to what Chris would tell Randy. So she put her cell phone on speaker phone to listen in on the conversation. Stacy was standing in the door way unnoticed to Trish.

Chris hung up his phone or so he thought and put it in his coat pocket this time. He looked over at Randy who was walking next to him. He didn't want to lie to his friend, so he figured he'd just tell him the truth.

"Randy, I'm sorry but you can't come." Chris sighed.

"You are such a liar." Randy laughed. "Nice joke though."

"No, I'm being serious now." Chris explained. "Stacy is at Trish's house."

"So!" Randy said defensively.

"You know when you two get into a room together you go at it." Chris spoke.

"Not anymore." Randy stated.

"I don't want to take any chances." Chris replied. "With everything going on…"

"So, I'm the one that gets booted to the curb." Randy turned his head. "She was the one in the wrong, not me."

"What's really going on with you two?" Chris asked.

"Nothing!" Randy stated. "I'll catch you later."

"Randy!" Chris grabbed his arm. "Talk to me!"

"I screwed everything up!" Randy shouted. "Because of me, Stacy and I can't even be in the same room."

"How is it your fault?" Chris questioned realizing how stupid the question sounded.

"It started with Hayley. She kissed me and I kissed Hayley and I liked it. I'm an immature guy, what else was I supposed to do. Yeah I liked it, but I loved Stacy's kiss." Randy went on. "Then we broke up because I avoided her due to Stacy not knowing about the kiss. We get back together some how. Then she catches me kissing Hayley again. Then I find a friend in Terri and Stacy pulls the fake pregnancy on me. Which that is my fault too, because I moved on way to fast. Hell I never even moved on from Stacy. I was in the rebound stage. Then I told her I just wanted to be friends. I screwed that up too. I saw her leave Andrew's house early in the morning and I questioned her and asked if she was sleeping with him. Now I regret that completely. I just wish that Hayley had never entered the picture, because then I'd still be with Stacy. I'd be happy. Damn it Chris, I'm in love with her. I always have been and never stopped.

Chris stood there starring at Randy. He was speechless. Chris was unsure of what to say. He had never heard or seen Randy act this way. That goes to show why Randy had been acting strange as of late. He knew most of the story with the exception of the Andrew thing. He wished he could help his friend out, but things like this take time. Chris tried to think of something to say when Randy beat him to it.

"I'll catch you later Chris." Randy replied and walked off as Chris continued to stand there.

Trish's eyes remained wide through out the entire conversation between them. She didn't know if she should tell Stacy or not. Those two had been through so much, that she was unsure what the right thing to do was. Her answer was confirmed when she heard a movement come from behind her. As Trish turned around she saw Stacy standing there with the same expression as her. Stacy obviously had heard everything as well.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie sighed to herself as she watched number two talk on his cell phone in the corner. She was unaware of who he was talking to. Stephanie sighed under the tape that covered her mouth. They had taken shifts watching over her. So there was no real chance of her escaping. She just wanted to go home, take a long hot shower, eat a real hot meal, lay down in her own warm bed and be surrounded by the ones she loved and that loved her. A tear began to form as she felt that she would never see them again. She counted five days in her head as how long she has been in this cellar looking thing. They were five long days. Her head shot up as she noticed number two walking over to her.

"Come on Princess." Number two smirked as he untied her hands from the chair.

Her heart raced as she believed that he was going to let her go. A smile came to her face that was hidden by the tape on her mouth. She slowly watched as he untied her feet as well. Stephanie would have fought against him once he had freed her, but she had no energy or strength to do so. As she slowly stood up, she could barely do that. She looked up at number two's face and noticed the hurt in his eyes. Stephanie shook her head. Something wasn't right. His expression looked as if something was going to happen, that he was not willing to do. Her heart began to beat quicker as he spoke.

"I'm really sorry for what's about to happen." Number two sighed. "This wasn't apart of the plan."

Stephanie's eyes widen as he picked her up carrying her over his shoulder. What was he doing with her? What was going to happen to her? Was he going to kill her now? All kinds of questions ran through Stephanie's head. Her heart continuing to race faster and faster as he carried her up the stairs. When they were inside the main part of the house, Stephanie realized she was in Ashley's old house. Of all the places to bring her, they brought her here. Stephanie looked around as she noticed number two was taking her upstairs. She began to try and wiggle out of his arms. Steph knew what was coming next. Her worst fear. He was going to rape her. It was hard for her to try to fight back, and she failed to do so. All she could do was cry silently. She could feel number two's head movement shaking back and forth as in a "I can't believe I'm doing this".

"I'm so so sorry Stephanie." Number two spoke tossing her down on the bed.

She slowly turned her head to look at him. Her eyes full of tears. How could this be happening. Why didn't he just stop. The other guy wasn't here. There would be no way of telling if he had gone through with this. Stephanie shut her eyes tight as she noticed him taking his shirt off. Tears flowed down her face. She opened her eyes when she felt the tape coming off of her mouth. She took this as her chance to speak.

"John, please don't do this!" Stephanie pleaded.

"Just shut up!" John yelled holding his head.

"You don't have to do this." Stephanie cried. "You can let me go."

"No I can't, because then you'll go and tell…" John was cut off.

"I wont say a word." Stephanie begged.

"I can't, he'll know." John continued. "Then he'll come after me."

"You can lie." Stephanie spoke. "I can pretend like this happened."

"He's already on his way here." John sighed.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Stephanie asked tears still flowing.

"You don't get it Steph." John sat down on the bed. "I'm in love with you."

"You can't be in love with me." Stephanie shook her head.

"Why do you think I flirt with you all the time?" John questioned. "You're beautiful."

"Then why would you want to hurt me?" Stephanie questioned.

"You hurt me." John stated. "You never gave me the chance to show we could be perfect for each other."

Stephanie laid there quietly. She let her tears continue to flow as she stopped talking. She didn't know John liked her so much. Her heart began to slow down a bit as she felt John stand up. She moved her head to look at him. He had begun tying her feet to the bed posts. He made his way up to her hands and tied them as well. Stephanie couldn't fight back. She was too weak. She just wished that John would have some change of heart. She looked at John giving him pleading eyes. He looked as if he was going to change his mind when number one walked into the room.

"Aw, just like I asked." Ken Kennedy smirked taking his shirt off. "What's with the ropes though?"

"We don't want her to get away now." John laughed evilly.

"Huh?" Stephanie sighed confused.

"Oh come on Steph." John smirked. "You really bought all that?"

Stephanie just stared at him. He way toying around with her. He was never sorry to begin with. She wanted to cry, but it seemed that she had cried all the tears that she could cry. She shut her eyes as Ken ripped off her shirt revealing her breasts. Stephanie wished she could plug her ears and pretend this was not happening, but she knew that wouldn't happen. She felt one of them climb up on top of her. She opened her eyes to see Ken on top of her. He began fondling with her breasts. His other hand ran through her hair. Stephanie was too weak to muster out a cry for help. She knew even if she tried to do so, she'd get slapped again. She turned her head to the side as far as she could. As she was about to shut her eyes she noticed someone standing in the doorway. She focused her eyes on the figure and her heart began to beat faster.

"You son of a bitch!" Kurt Angle yelled running into the room attacking John first.

Kurt his John with a shovel that he had picked up from outside. He had noticed Ken lurking around the area, so he decided to follow him. He was now thankful that he had followed him. Kurt had grabbed the shovel before he going into the house. He also had called the police a head of time as well.

John was knocked out cold. He laid on the floor not moving as blood spilled from his head. Ken freaked out and jumped off of Stephanie. He was now in the corner unarmed. Kurt walked closer and closer to Ken. He would act like he was going to swing the shovel each step he took.

"Kurt, why don't you put the shovel down?" Ken asked worriedly.

"How about not." Kurt glared. "What kind of sick freak are you?"

"Come on Kurt, we are in the same boat." Ken smirked.

"How so?" Kurt questioned.

"She doesn't want anything to do with you." Ken told. "Just like us."

"There is a difference though." Kurt shook his head.  
"What is that?" Ken questioned.

"I'm her friend and I wouldn't hurt her." Kurt stated swinging the shovel.

Ken ducked out of the way. The shovel hit the wall and the shovel got caught in the wall. Kurt quickly let go of the shovel as he felt Ken jump on his back. Kurt backed up quickly and rammed Ken into the wall. Ken let go falling to the ground. Kurt took this as his opportunity to attack Ken. He jumped on top of him and began beating the living hell out of him. Kurt didn't stop punching Ken's face until he was knocked out. Once Kurt knew for sure that he was knocked out he stood up and looked over at Stephanie who had a wide smile on her face. He walked over to the bed and untied both arms and legs. Stephanie immediately sat up and hugged Kurt. She held on as if for dear life.


	30. Reunited

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 30: Reunited

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: Sorry for the long awaited chapter update. I've been super busy as of late. My chapter updates will probably be spread out in a time span now. I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Kurt managed to get Stephanie's shirt back on her. She was still visibly distraught about the whole ordeal. She was so thankful for Kurt. He was her savior. He saved her from the worst possible things that could have happened. Stephanie still clung to Kurt as they watched John and Ken laying on the floor. Stephanie continued to cry. Her tears were of happiness. She didn't know how she would ever thank Kurt enough for helping her. They stood there in the middle of the door, when they heard police officers coming up the stairs. As three officers reached the top of the stairs and entered the room they looked from the two men laying on the floor to Kurt and Stephanie. The officers put two and two together as they focused their eyes on Stephanie. The officers spoke amongst themselves. A few seconds later they all looked at Kurt and Stephanie.

"Hello Miss, I'm officer Banks." He nodded his head towards Stephanie. "Would you happen to be Stephanie McMahon?"

"Y..y..yes." Stephanie mustered out.

"Wait until we get you back home." Banks smiled. "You're family and friends have been looking all over for you."

Stephanie continued to cry. She would get to go home to her friends and family. Her hopes were coming true. Her heart beat increased with happiness. The other two officers cuff John and Ken who were now aware of their surroundings. They cursed to themselves as they realized what had happened. They had been busted. They were looking at doing life in prison more then likely. They both vowed that if they are set free, it wouldn't be the last that Stephanie or anyone had seen of them. Once the other two officers took Ken and John out and put them in the car, officer Banks spoke with Stephanie and Kurt about what had happened. As much as Stephanie didn't want to talk about it, she told the officer everything that had happened from day one. Kurt stood by her with an arm wrapped around her shoulder giving her support.

An hour and a half had gone by. They had taken Stephanie down town to have her write out her statement. Stephanie had insisted that Kurt come and be present with her. They also tested her for anything that could have been wrong. All the tests came back negative and that was a good thing. After everything was finished, officer Banks helped Stephanie get into the car. Kurt followed by getting in the car in the back by Stephanie. When they were all settled in the car officer Banks drove them to Stephanie's house. Once they pulled up in the driveway Steph's heart raced. She was home where she belonged. Butterflies were in her stomach. This would have to be one of her happiest moments ever. Officer Banks got out of the car and opened the back door for Steph and Kurt to get out.

Stephanie couldn't stand it. She ran to her front door. She twisted the door knob and opened the door open. Tears streamed down her face as she looked around at the familiar surroundings. Everything was in the same place. Stephanie stood there at the front door as she heard her mother coming from the top of the stairs.

"Shane is…" Linda trailed off as she looked down the staircase.

Linda stood there in shock. She was unsure if she was seeing things or not. After a minute or two, realization kicked as Linda noticed Stephanie was still standing there. Both women's hearts raced as they ran for each other. They met in the middle of the stairs as they met with a giant hug. Linda and Stephanie held onto each other as for dear life. They didn't want to let go as tears slid down both of their faces. Linda was so thankful to have her daughter back in her arms safe and out of harm.

"Linda, is it Shane?" Vince asked walking from the area that Linda had previously come from.

Vince watched as Linda held onto someone very tightly. At first he was unsure of who it was. As Vince walked closer to the two, he realized it was his baby girl. Stephanie looked up and noticed her father. She slowly let go of her mother and ran to her daddy. She held onto him just as tight as she held onto Linda. Vince was in shock. He couldn't believe after six days he had his daughter with him. He kissed the top of her head as a tear slipped from his eye. He was so happy to have her home. He thought that he had lost her, but he was very thankful that he hadn't.

"Mom, Dad, I'm back!" Shane shouted walking in through the backdoor.

Shane made his way through the kitchen. He didn't see the police car in the front yard because he came from the back. As he entered the area where the staircase was he noticed his parents first. As he looked on, he realized his baby sister was in the embrace of his father. Shane couldn't contain himself. He ran up the stairs and pulled Steph away from Vince and hugged her himself. Shane was so scared that he had lost his only baby sister. He would have gone crazy if he had lost her. Stephanie held onto her brother tightly. She was so happy to see her family again.

Kurt and officer Banks stood in the door way watching the family interact with one another. They were finally a happy family again. Banks patted Kurt on the back as a sign of good work. Kurt smiled to himself. He was glad he had helped find Stephanie. Kurt could only wonder, what could have happened to her if he hadn't have showed up. He pushed that thought out of his head. She was home and safe now. He had nothing to worry about.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris sat with Trish on her couch. They had been just flipping through the channels and talking. They weren't in much of a mood to go out or do anything. Stacy had left once Chris got to Trish's place. Stacy didn't say why she was leaving, she just left. Trish assumed that it had something to do with Randy, but she didn't say anything. Calvin had gone to a friend's house a little before Chris had gotten there. Her parents were out at work for the day. Trish sighed as she rested her head on Chris' shoulder. Chris looked down at Trish as she sat there. He smiled softly as he kissed her forehead. Trish looked up and smiled at him as their eyes met.

"I love you." Chris smiled softly leaning in and kissing her softly.

"I love you too." Trish said in almost a whisper as she kissed him back.

They continued to kiss each other. Each and every little kiss became more passionate. They're hands began roaming each others bodies. Trish fiddled with the buttons on Chris' shirt as they continued to make out on the couch. She leaned back towards the arm rest, allowing Chris to get on top of her as his hands went up and down the sides of her body. Trish rolled her head back as Chris went from her lips to her neck. She shut her eyes at the sensation she was feeling. Her heart raced as she finally got the last button on Chris' shirt unbuttoned. In one smooth motion, Chris' shirt was on the floor. He went back up to her lips as they continued to kiss again. Trish ran her fingers through Chris' hair as he slid his left hand under her shirt. She smirked in between the kisses that they shared. Trish then proceeded to take her own shirt off getting a smile in return from Chris. She tossed her shirt aside as she pulled Chris down to her. Trish's hands roamed Chris back, as she lightly bit and tugged on Chris' bottom lip. This drove Chris insane. His right hand massaged Trish's leg, as it went from her calf and up to her thigh. Trish's head rolled back in pleasure as Chris hand inched closer and closer to her center. She ran her hands down Chris' chest and stopped at his belt buckle. She undid the first part of the buckle.

__

"Break the walls down."

Chris shut his eyes cursing to himself. Of all the times his cell phone could go off, it goes off now. Trish smirked continuing to kiss Chris. If she had things her way, she wouldn't let him answer the phone. His one stopped ringing. Chris shook his head as he went in to kiss Trish again. Their lips lingered for a few minutes.

__

"Break the walls down."

Trish sighed as Chris sat up taking his cell phone out of his pocket. Obviously it must be important if the person was going to continue to call. Trish rolled her eyes. She was upset now. She really wanted to take things to the next level with him. Just as soon as she thought it would happen, it gets messed up. She watched as Chris actually answered the phone. Trish sucked her teeth as she got up off the couch and taking her shirt with her left the living room. She went upstairs to her bedroom.

Anytime Chris and her had the chance to move their relationship, something always happened. It took forever for them to have their first kiss. Would it be the same for sex? Trish knew for sure she was ready. She wanted Chris. He was the one. She just knew it. They were supposed to go to the cabin this weekend, but with everything that had happened with Stephanie she didn't see that happening anytime soon. She sighed as she sat down on her bed looking at her night stand. She smiled at the picture she was looking at. It was of her and Chris. They were in his backyard working on an assignment. Chris had the bright idea to make a poster to get extra credit. They had painted a poster, or at least they tried to. Trish thought it would be funny to paint Chris instead. So she took some of the blue paint and put it on Chris' nose. Chris had done the same, but putting green paint on her nose. It was a little paint war. Chris' little sister Noelle had come outside with a camera and snapped a picture of them. They were staring into each other's eyes with their noses touching. Both had ear to ear smiles. You could see the love in their eyes and just by looking at the picture. Trish sighed again. He had upset her. He didn't have to answer the cell phone. She knew she was being selfish, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to move things along. What if he didn't?

"Trish?" Chris spoke entering her room fully clothed.

"I'm not talking to you right now!" Trish stated folding her arms.

"What, why?" Chris asked.

"Just go away." Trish replied.

"Trish we…" Chris tried to speak.

"Anytime we try to get closer, something always screws us over." Trish explained looking over at Chris. "When are we ever going to move our relationship to the next level?"

"Now isn't the time for this…" Chris was cut off again.

"Why isn't it?" Trish asked. "Does it not fit your schedule?"

"It was my mom." Chris sighed. "She said we need to go to the McMahon's house and that its important."

"Oh no!" Trish began to cry.

"Don't start crying now." Chris hugged Trish. "We don't know anything yet."

"Why else would we need to go over there?" Trish let her tears flow.

Chris hugged Trish tightly. He fears that Trish was right. He hoped that they were wrong. Chris rubbed her shoulders as he helped her get some shoes on. Once Trish had her shoes on, they left the house and headed over to the McMahon's house.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy sighed to herself as she walked down the street. She had just left Trish's house. She was so confused with Randy. Well, not with Randy, but her feelings for Randy. He could be a complete asshole, and she could hate him for it. Yet, when it comes down to it, she missed him. She missed the friendship that they used to share. They used to be so close. That friendship went down the drain when they started to date. Things just became more complicated when she heard Randy confess his love for her. Why did everything with Randy have to be so hard and confusing? Stacy had to admit, she did still have feelings for Randy, but getting back together with him would just cause further problems. Also, she was starting to like Andrew as well. She wanted to explore her feelings for Andrew. She had finally given him the chance to get to know her and take her out. Stacy stopped as she found herself outside Randy's front door. She wanted her friend back. If Randy loved her like he said he did, he'd be her friend. He would do whatever for her, so for her to be happy. Stacy slowly knocked on the door. She waited a few minutes. She turned to leave when Randy opened the door.

"Stacy?" Randy questioned confused at seeing her.

"Can we talk?" Stacy asked with a small smile.

"Um, yeah sure." Randy stated stepping outside shutting the door behind him. "What's up?"

Stacy walked over to the railing that went around the front porch. She jumped up and sat on the railing. She swung her legs over the edge as she was thinking of how to start this conversation off. Randy was unsure, whether he should go sit next to her or not. He wasn't even sure why she was here. He was the last person she wanted to see, or so he thought. He ran a hand over the back of his neck as he looked up at Stacy. She motioned for him to come sit next to her. Randy slowly made his way over and sat next to Stacy. He waited patiently for her to start speaking.

"I heard everything you said." Stacy confessed as she turned to look at Randy.

"Excuse me?" Randy asked a he became unaware of what she was talking about.

"Chris' phone never hung up." Stacy answered. "I heard what you said about me."

"Oh.." Randy wasn't sure what to say.

"Look Randy…" Stacy continued. "I love you too…"

"Really?!" Randy smiled looking over at Stacy.

"Yes, Randy I do." Stacy frowned. "But as a friend."

"Oh…" Randy looked down.  
"Randy, we've been through so much in the past two months since school started." Stacy went on. "Us hooking up has destroyed our friendship to the fullest."

"Yeah, and its all my fault." Randy shook his head.

"No, its not." Stacy spoke as she rested her hand on his. "It takes two for something to go wrong."

"If you say so." Randy sighed.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be with you." Stacy spoke.

"Then what's stopping us?" Randy asked hope in his eyes.

"I know if we get back together we will just break up again." Stacy replied. "We need to be friends again, before anything else."

"So, we could possibly be something in the future?" Randy questioned.

"Nothing is set in stone." Stacy smiled. "But yes, its possible in the future."

"I'm really sorry about everything." Randy stated. "And about Andrew."

"Its ok." Stacy smiled giving Randy a hug. "But, speaking of Andrew."

"What about him?" Randy looked over at her.

"I kind of have a thing for him." Stacy blushed looking down at her feet.

"For Andrew?" Randy was in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious." Stacy said looking up at him.

Randy sat there thinking for a minute. She wanted to be with Andrew, not him. Well, she did say that maybe in the future they could be together. Maybe Stacy needed this, to see if Randy was who she really wanted to be with. Randy looked over at Stacy who was looking at him smiling. He loved her so much, and as much as he hated the fact that she wanted to be with Andrew he had to let her be happy. Her happiness was more important to him.

"Well, then you should go for it." Randy faked a smile.

"Really?" Stacy asked eyeing Randy.

"Yeah." Randy breathed. "But if he hurts you, his ass is mine."

"Oh Randy!" Stacy exclaimed hugging him tightly.

"I can't let anyone hurt my best friend." Randy spoke hiding his sadness.

Randy smiled as he watched Stacy pull out her ringing cell phone. She answered it and began to talk. Randy couldn't help but stare at her. He wanted to be with her, but if it meant being friends first, he'd have to do that. He did miss being her friend though. He'd do anything to get her back, and if being her friend is the trick, then so be it. He needed to show her he had changed and that he has matured. He smiled at her. Maybe starting over as friends wouldn't be so bad after all. Stacy turned and looked at Randy as she hung up her cell phone. The facial expression she wore gave Randy the impression that something was wrong.

"What is it?" Randy questioned.

"It was Chris." Stacy spoke. "We need to get over to the McMahon's house."

XoxoxoxoX

Paul made it to Adam's house after he spoke with Shawn. It took him about twenty minutes to get there. He walked up to the door and knocked. He noticed Adam's car in the driveway. It was the only one that was visible. Paul smirked as he noticed Adam look through the window. He wondered if he'd have the balls to actually open the door. His smirk grew bigger when he heard the door knob twist. Adam opened the door fully to confront Paul.

"Can I help you?" Adam questioned looking Paul up and down.

"Did you think I forgot about you?" Paul smirked.

"You still think its me." Adam shook his head. "You are paranoid man."

"You give me every reason to believe its you." Paul glared at him.

"And what are those reasons?" Adam asked.

"You tore Steph and I apart!" Paul stated with anger.

"Really?" Adam smirked. "That was me."

"Don't play games." Paul shook his head.

"Well, if I remember correctly…" Adam went on. "I simply just kissed her. You were the one who didn't listen to her. You were the one that got wasted and called her a whore. You were the one who broke up with her. Yeah, I gave you pictures that were edited, but you were the one who wouldn't let her get a word in to explain. So, what reason do I give you, to make you think I did it?"

Paul's temper grew with each word Adam continued to say. He knew it was his fault that they broke up, but Adam was the cause of it. Adam did have a point though. Paul never let Steph explain anything. Paul ran a hand through his hair as he looked up at Adam with hatred in his eyes.

"Where is she?" Paul said in a deep low voice.

"Get over yourself." Adam spoke. "I didn't take her."

"The hell you did!" Paul spoke as he threw a punch in Adam's face.

All hell broke loose between Adam and Paul. Fists were flying everywhere as they rolled outside down onto the grass. Paul soon gained the upper hand as he pummeled Adam in the face. Paul had pinned Adam down underneath him as he continued to punch his face in. He had turned into a mad man possessed. He was like a bull that had just seen red. Adam had grown weak and unable to fight back. Adam was slowly going in and out of a state of unconscious. Paul suddenly stopped as he looked down at Adam. What had he done? He'd become lower then Adam. Paul looked over as he heard his name being called.

"Paul!!" Chris and Randy yelled at the same time.

Paul slowly got up off of Adam and just stood there. Stacy and Trish watched as Randy and Chris ran over to Paul. They grabbed Paul by each arm and pulled him away from Adam. Chris and Randy were able to lead Paul away from Adam. They all walked down the street leaving Adam there. They knew it was wrong to do, but they had more important things to do. They had to get to the McMahon's house. No words were spoken at all. Paul had no idea where they were taking him. He didn't even bother to ask. He realized that it must have something to do with Stephanie when he noticed they were outside her house.

Everyone looked at each other and then to the house. All of their hearts raced. None of them knew what to expect. The girls began to cry fearing the worst of their friends. The three guys just looked on. The pathway seemed so far away to the front door. All five of them made their way up the pathway. None of them wanted to knock, fearing the worst news. Chris took the initiative and knocked on the door. It seemed like forever waiting for the door to be answered. All different questions ran through their heads. No one was sure to what they would find out about the news of Stephanie. Was she alive? Was she dead? They all hoped that she was found. They all waited a few more minutes before Shane answered the door.

"Hey guys!" Shane smiled as he opened the door fully.

"My mom said we should come over." Chris sighed. "Is everything ok?"

"Why don't you guys come in." Shane said as everyone walked in.

"Oh my…" Trish and Stacy spoke at the same time as they both continued to cry.

"Girls, its ok." Shane tried to speak over their tears.

Chris tried to console Trish and likewise with Randy and Stacy. Paul just stared at everyone in disbelief. Paul put his head in his hands as he assumed that Steph was gone. Everyone was so caught up into each other, that they didn't even notice Stephanie walk into the area of the house where they were. Tears began to sting her eyes as she saw all her friends in her house. Randy was the first to look up and see Stephanie. She looked a bit banged up, but that was to be expected since she had been gone for so long. She had a large bruise on her cheek from the slap, she looked really tiny due to not eating correctly. Randy almost didn't believe it was her. He patted both girls on the back getting their attention to look up. Stacy and Trish both looked up as their eyes fell upon Stephanie. At the exact same time Trish, Stacy and Stephanie screamed as they all ran for each other. Both Trish and Stacy hugged Stephanie tightly not letting go. Once the guys realized that Stephanie was really there they went over and hugged her as well. They all shared in one big group hug. Finally, the six of them were back together.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please review. The more reviews, the quicker I hope to update. I'd love you all forever if you review. I understand if you can't though.

Also, any ideas are welcome, and I'll consider putting them in the story. Thanks again for reading!!


	31. Lying Hearts

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 31: Lying Hearts

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: Sorry for the long awaited chapter update. I've been super busy as of late. My chapter updates will probably be spread out in a time span now. I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Two weeks had gone by since Steph's return. During those two weeks a lot had transpired. For starts there was no Halloween party. Stephanie hadn't gone back to school right away. She couldn't just return the next day after being kidnapped. She was nursed back to her normal self by her family and friends, with the exception of Paul. He had tried to see her, but after they had reunited, Steph didn't want anything to do with him for the moment. She may have been happy to see him as a friend, but nothing more. She still hadn't forgotten about everything that had transpired between the two. She wasn't ready or able to just forgive and forget. He hurt her strongly and it would take her sometime to get over it. How could you just forgive someone who didn't trust you or give you the chance to explain anything. She avoided Paul as much as she could in the process of her healing. She didn't need more stress added on to her recovery. In the process of all of this Stephanie had become rather good friends with Kurt. To Kurt's dismay though, there wasn't any attraction between the two. He was a bit upset but he settled for Stephanie's friendship. As far as friendships go, Stacy and Stephanie were able to mend everything between them. Oddly, enough they were closer now then before. Everything seemed to be back to normal for Stephanie.

XoX

As for Paul, he didn't make much progress in anything. The only thing he accomplished was gaining Stacy's forgiveness. That was hard for him to do as well, but he did receive it. That made them on better terms. With that resolved, the only problem out of the six friends was Paul and Stephanie's relationship. It seemed that no one in the group was fighting at the moment except for those two. It was almost as if the entire group couldn't all be happy at the same time. Paul had tried everything. He sent her flowers, cards, candy, teddy bears and everything else possible to send. All the items came back unopened from Stephanie. Obviously she didn't even take the time to open them. He didn't blame her though. He had also tried calling her numerous times but continued to get her voicemail. He e-mailed her but never got any responses. Stephanie's parents and brother had told Paul to just leave her alone. Paul was acting as a man possessed. He couldn't leave her alone. He knew she probably needed space, but he didn't want to give up that easy. He lost her once, and if he got her back he vowed not to lose her again. Paul didn't realize that everything he was doing meant nothing to Stephanie. Once Paul was able to realize what he did was wrong and could forgive himself, Steph would forgive him too.

XoX

Trish was glad to have her best friend back. She spent most of her time over at Stephanie's filling her in on all the details about everyone's life. When she wasn't at Stephanie's house Trish was with Chris. Sadly to say, they still haven't moved their relationship level any further. It was starting to upset Trish. She didn't know how to come about it. Every time they got close to sleeping together something would happen. It always happened on Chris' watch. They had made plans to go to Trish's cabin in the two weeks, but that never happened. Chris had to cancel because he had to watch his baby sister for the weekend while his parents were out of town. Trish didn't believe it. She believed he was just looking for excuses to not sleep with her. It was as if he was pushing her away. She was starting to wonder if he actually wanted to take things to the next step. It seemed as if he was avoiding her as of late. Was she pushing him too far? Was he not ready? He's a guy, he's always ready right? Trish kept thinking it had something to do with her. She was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, Chris didn't love her anymore and didn't want to be with her.

XoX

Chris was thankful to have his cousin back safely. Besides hanging out with his cousin most of the time, he was with Trish. He knew what Trish wanted. It wasn't that he didn't want to sleep with Trish, he just felt rushed. He enjoyed spending time with her and making out with her. He just wasn't sure if he himself was ready to take that next step. Yeah, he's a guy. Guys are always ready. That's false in this case. Chris was actually personally not ready for the next step in their relationship. He didn't have commitment problems or anything. It just seemed to be happening all too fast. They had only been dating since the start of October. So it was just now nearing a month that they had been dating. That was just moving way to fast for him. He knew Trish was amazing and a great girl, and it seemed as if they had been dating forever, but they had been best friends for the majority part of their lives. Chris has had past relationships that had been ruined by moving too fast. He didn't want that to happen with Trish and himself. Due to Trish's overwhelming urge to get them alone, he had been pushing her away slightly. He didn't know what other way to tell her he wasn't ready. He couldn't just up and tell her that because he was embarrassed about it. Or could he?

XoX

Stacy seemed to have the perfect life as of late. She regained her best friend Stephanie back. She was able to become friends with Randy as well. Stacy had also started to pursue a relationship with Andrew Martin. Starting with Stephanie and Stacy. The two had talked about everything and all the misunderstandings. They ended up forgiving each other and becoming closer then they ever were before. As for Randy and Stacy. They had started their friendship over again. That actually seemed to be working. Randy wasn't being the overprotective and over jealous person he usually was when it came to Stacy. He was actually being her friend for the first time in a long time. They've started to hang out again. You could say they were back to being best friend again. Though it was still a bit awkward with everything that had went on between the two. Stacy was really thankful that she had given Andrew a chance. He turned out to actually be a great guy. She really liked Andrew a lot. They had just recently become official. Stacy was happy to tell people she was Andrew's girlfriend and likewise with Andrew telling people he was Stacy's boyfriend.

XoX

Randy was very thankful to have Stephanie back in his life again. He had missed her a bunch. He spent as much time as he could with her between school and doing nothing. A lot of his spare time was also spent with Stacy. They had finally been able to be friends again. Randy loved that they were friends again. He honestly had missed Stacy. He'd be lying if he didn't say it bothered him that she was dating Andrew. He had to be nice and quiet about it though. One minor slip up and everything would have gone back down the drain. He was ok with being just her friend, though he wished that they would be more soon. They have been hanging out a lot as of late. Stacy and Randy had been hanging out more then Stacy and Andrew. Though none of the three had even noticed this happening. Randy and Andrew rarely ever talked. They had the minor "hi" and "what's up" in the hallways, but that was it. They were never really friends and they weren't about to start. Especially since they both wanted the same thing. Stacy.

XoxoxoxoX

Two Weeks Later

XoxoxoxoX

It was now the month of November. Thanksgiving was coming up around the corner. They only had three days left of school until Thanksgiving. Everyone couldn't wait for the upcoming holiday. It was everyone's favorite holiday with the exception of Christmas. It was a Monday afternoon at school. Stephanie had gone back and was excused from all the pervious assignments. Her grade was frozen until she returned leaving her with the same grade she had before she had gone missing. Everyone was at lunch doing their own little thing.

Stacy hummed to herself as she listened to her ipod in the student lounge. She was supposed to be doing her English homework for her next class but she couldn't seem to concentrate. She kept humming the song "Best Friend" by Toy Box. The song was upbeat and to Stacy's liking. She didn't know why, but this song had been her favorite song for a while. It always made her feel happy and secure. It reminded her of something in her life, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The song made her smile as she bobbed her head to the music with her eyes shut. Stacy soon began to sing out loud.

__

Maybe some pretty girls are in your world  
Excuse me, I could also be your girl  
Lately, everyone is making fun  
Na na na na na na na na na na na

He's my best friend, best of all best friends  
Do you have a best friend too?  
it tickles in my tummy, he is so yummy yummy  
Hey, you should get a best friend too  
My best friend!

"Singing about Randy are we?" Stephanie smirked walking over to where Stacy was sitting.

Stacy looked up as she faintly heard Stephanie speak. She blushed a light shade of pink. She took her headphones out of her ears and turned her ipod off. She placed the ipod back in her purse and looked towards Stephanie.

"What are you talking about?" Stacy questioned. "Singing about Randy?"

"He is your best friend." Stephanie smirked. "He's the only best friend you have that you seem super close with."

"We're just friends Steph." Stacy smiled. "That's all."

"It doesn't seem like it." Stephanie giggled. "That song fits your two perfectly."

"What do you mean?" Stacy asked.

"Oh nothing." Stephanie sighed. "You and Randy have been spending a lot of time together."

"Yeah, he's my best friend." Stacy spoke. "That's it and nothing more."

"I know." Stephanie changed topics. "So what are your plans for Thanksgiving?"

"I'm going to Randy's." Stacy said without even thinking.

"Randy's?" Stephanie questioned. "Wouldn't you go to your boyfriend's for Thanksgiving?"

"He hasn't asked me yet." Stacy smiled sweetly.

"Ok Stacy." Stephanie laughed shaking her head. Stacy was too much sometimes.

"What are you doing?" Stacy replied in question.

"I'm staying home." Stephanie smiled.

"Inviting anyone?" Stacy motioned towards the opposite side of the student lounge where Paul had just walked in.

"Yeah, I am inviting someone." Stephanie spoke as she noticed Stacy motioning towards Paul. "But its not Paul."

"Are you serious?" Stacy questioned. "Why not?"

"Are you serious?" Stephanie asked back.

"Its been like two weeks since you've been back." Stacy started. "He's been trying to get things back on track."

"Stacy, I'm thankful for your help and all." Stephanie stated. "But personally, I'm just not ready to forgive and forget."

"Why not?" Stacy asked another question.

"He doesn't trust me." Steph answered. "I'm one of his best friends, and he didn't even care to listen to a word I had to say."

"Ok, I understand." Stacy sighed. "We wouldn't want another Stacy/Randy situation."

"If that's what you want to call it." Stephanie laughed.

"So, if you aren't inviting him, then who are you inviting?" Stacy asked.

"Kurt." Stephanie responded.

"Kurt Angle?" Stacy questioned in shock.

"Yeah him." Stephanie looked at Stacy. "What's wrong?"

"He's like a…" Stacy trailed off.

"Like a what?" Stephanie asked knowing where her friend was going with this.

"A nerd!!" Stacy said quietly.

"So…" Stephanie exclaimed. "Your point?"

"That's like social suicide." Stacy said looking around to make sure no one was looking at them. "What if someone found out?"

"Who cares if someone finds out?" Stephanie laughed. "The guy saved my life."

"Didn't we already go through this with Trish, Brock and Chris?" Stacy questioned.

"This is different Stacy." Stephanie responded. "Kurt is actually a nice guy."

"But he's a nerd." Stacy said again. "He's like the nerd of all nerds."

"Stacy, do you even hear yourself talking?" Stephanie giggled.

"He's the King of Nerds." Stacy spoke.

"Stacy, stop it!" Stephanie smacked Stacy's leg.

"Well, if you want to ruin your social life then go ahead." Stacy sighed. "Don't say I didn't try to warn you."

"Ok Stacy." Stephanie laughed.

XoxoxoxoX

Paul sat in the student lounge across the room from Stephanie and Stacy. In the area he was sitting in they couldn't see him. He knew they had seen him walk in but that was it. He couldn't help but watch Stephanie from afar. He really missed her. He wanted to invite her over for Thanksgiving but he knew that was a long shot. Paul was starting to wish he could go back in time to when Stephanie and himself were actually happy. He sighed to himself as he noticed Randy walk up to him.

"Hey man." Randy stated sitting next to him.

"Hey." Paul spoke tearing his gaze from Stephanie.

"What's up?" Randy asked.

"Not much really." Paul sighed. "Just the same ole same old."

"Just watching Steph from afar again." Randy smirked knowing his friend all too well.

"Shut up man." Paul ran his hand across his neck.

"Why don't you just go up to her and talk to her?" Randy questioned.

"Its not that easy." Paul stated. "She'd have to actually talk to me first."

"She still isn't talking to you?" Randy shook his head.

"I've tried everything." Paul stated sadly.

"Obviously not everything." Randy spoke. "I'm sure she'll talk to you sooner or later."

"I miss her." Paul sighed looking down.

"I know you do." Randy said patting him on the back. "In time things will blow over."

"Yeah right." Paul answered. "She'll never talk to me."

"Take me and Stacy for example." Randy started. "We went through way worse then you and Steph did and now were are back to being best friends again."

"Steph isn't Stacy though." Paul looked at Randy.

"While that may be true…" Randy continued. "But they are best friends and tend to do the same things."

"I hope you are right Randy." Paul answered as he looked up and over at Stephanie having a good time.

"Patience is the key." Randy spoke taking a sip of his water.

"I'm not the best in that subject." Paul kind of laughed.

"Keep busy." Randy smiled. "Staying busy will take your mind off of things."

"You think so?" Paul asked.

"I don't think…" Randy started. "I know so."

"So, what are you doing after school?" Paul smirked.

"Sorry, I'm busy." Randy shook his head. "Try Jericho."

"Jericho is always with Trish." Paul sighed. "Oh well, I'll just have to try. What are you doing anyways?"

"Stacy and I are going to the mall." Randy replied.

"Oh, and I can't come?" Paul rolled his eyes. "It's not like you two are dating."

"We're just friends." Randy smirked.

"Friends my ass." Paul laughed. "You two hang out more then she hangs out with Andrew."

"That's not my fault now is it?" Randy raises his eyebrow as he gets up and starts to leave the lounge.

"No its not." Paul answers following Randy out the lounge.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris had just finished eating his lunch with a few friends. He was now opening his locker to get his books for his next class. He had English next with Stacy. Unlike Stacy, Chris actually had his homework completed. With the situation with Trish and himself at hand, he's had a lot of free time to do his homework. He hated avoiding Trish like this, but he didn't want to hurt her. Although he was subconsciously hurting her by staying away and not telling her. Hurting Trish was the furthest thing from his mind. He sighed as he grabbed his books and put them into his backpack. Right after he shuts his locker and comes face to face with Trish. Out of fright, Chris jumps back from Trish.

"Cheese and fries." Chris stated instead of using the lords name in vain.

"Did I scare you?" Trish asked with a smile.

"No, you just startled me." Chris spoke settling down.

"I'm sorry." Trish said as she started to walk with him.

"It's ok." Chris smiled putting an arm around her. "Don't worry about it."

"Ok." Trish replied hugging him. "You know, both my parents work late tonight."

"Is that so?" Chris responded not looking at her face.

"Yeah, and Calvin is going to a friend's place after school for a while." Trish smirked raising an eye brow.

"Really…" Chris didn't know what else to say.

"I was thinking you could come over and…" Trish was cut off by Trish.

"I can't…" Chris stated looking around for an excuse.

"Why?" Trish asked looking up at him her eyes beginning to get moist.

"Because…" Chris desperately looked around the hall for an excuse.

"Are you ly…" Trish was cut off again.

"Because I have plans…" Chris sighed in relief as he seen Paul walking up the hall. "Plans with Paul today."

"With Paul?" Trish questioned as she looked down the hall seeing Paul.

"Yeah, he uh…" Chris hated lying to Trish but he didn't know what else to do.

"He what?" Trish questioned knowing he was lying. He was never good at it.

"He needs to keep his…" Chris thought quickly seeing Steph walking down the opposite hall. "Mind off of Stephanie, so he wants me to keep him occupied."

"Randy can't hang out with him?" Trish pouted.

"Randy actually has plans with Stacy." Chris said telling the truth about that.

"He can't go with them?" Trish continued to question her eyes stinging with tears.

"Come on Trish." Chris smiled. "Its Randy and Stacy."

"Yeah, that's true." Trish sighed. "Ok… have fun."

"You could always hang out with Steph today." Chris explained kissing Trish's forehead.

"Yeah…" Trish trailed off.

"I'm going to go catch up with Paul." Chris spoke giving Trish a hug. "I'll see you later ok?"

"Sure…" Trish sighed holding back her tears.

"Love you." Chris stated kissing her goodbye and running down the hall to where Paul was.

Trish sighed to herself as she watch Chris run down the hall to Paul. She knew he was lying. Why couldn't he just tell her the truth? He must have thought she was born yesterday or that they had just become friends. She could tell when any of her friends were lying. Chris always took too long to figure out his excuse. That's how Trish knew. She would have called him on it, but she would have started crying. She didn't want to cry in front of him. As she continued to watch Chris and Paul down the hall her eyes began to get super watery. She felt the first tear slip down her cheek. That was her que to go to the restroom. She ran into the bathroom and to the first empty stall. She shut the door and cried her eyes out. She didn't understand why he was acting this way. He was lying to her, making up excuses not to be alone with her and avoiding hanging out with her as of late. Trish's heart began to break as she thought of those thoughts. The only reason she could think of was that he didn't have feelings for her anymore.

"He doesn't love me anymore." Trish cried to herself.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it as much as I liked writing it. Please review and let me know what you think. All reviews are welcome. I love hearing your opinions so I can improve my work. Also, if you have any ideas you'd like to see in this story let me know, and I'll think about putting them into my story.

Thanks

Citcat


	32. Hoping To Mend Relationships

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 32: Hoping To Mend Relationships

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

It was Monday after school. The rest of the day went by rather slow for everyone. Once the bell had rang signaling that the school day was over everyone practically ran out of their classrooms. Randy and Stacy had met up after school and went straight to the mall. Chris had actually made plans with Paul and they were hanging out at Paul's house. Stephanie had went straight home with no plans in mind. Trish also went straight home with no plans as well.

XoX

Stacy laughed hysterically as Randy dressed up in the female's undergarments in Victoria Secret. They had originally gone into the store to buy some lotion and spray for Stacy. While Stacy wasn't looking Randy had vanished into the other section of the store. Once Stacy had picked out the scents she wanted she turned to find Randy gone. She looked around and didn't see him anywhere. She causally walked back towards the fitting rooms. She highly doubted that he would be back there, but it was Randy she was with. Also, he is a guy. Stacy was sure Randy would have been drawn to the dressing rooms. She looked under the doors as she noticed two very hairy legs. Stacy immediately knew it was Randy and she began laughing. Randy heard Stacy's laughter and opened the door. He was dressed in a woman's black lace bra and matching lace panties on top of his boxers. Stacy couldn't help but to cry. Randy snatched Stacy by the arm and pulled her into the fitting room with him. He knew she would come looking for him, and he wanted to have some fun. Embarrassing Stacy was going to be the highlight of the day today. Seeing that stopping in Victoria Secret was the first place they had visited, it meant that the day had just begun.

"Randy.. What.. On.. Earth.. Are.. You.. Doing?" Stacy mustered out between laughs.

"Miss Randy thank you very much." Randy stated in a high pitched female voice.

"I'm sorry." Stacy giggled.

"Ok, I need your opinion." Randy modeled the bra and panties off to her. "Do these panties make my butt look big?"

"Oh my.." Stacy started laughing again as there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" Randy put on his best female voice.

"Is everything ok in there Ms.?" A sales clerk asked hearing the laughter.

"Um yes." Randy stated covering Stacy's mouth.

"Are you sure?" The sales clerk questioned. "You've been in there a while."

"I'm ok." Randy replied.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to come out of there." The sales clerk said firmly.

Randy and Stacy looked at each other. Both their eyes getting wide as they looked at each other. Randy pulled Stacy off of the chair she was sitting on and he got onto the chair and kneeled on it. He threw a few bras at Stacy that were left in the room before he had entered it. Stacy immediately understood Randy's idea. She took a few breathes regaining her composer as she grabbed the lotions and sprays too. She opened the door just enough for her to get out and have Randy unnoticed to the sales clerk. The lady looked at Stacy oddly for a few minutes.

"I can check you out if you are finished shopping." She responded.

"That would be really nice of you." Stacy smiled. "I don't want these anymore."

"Ok." She took the bras from Stacy and put them on a rack. "Your voice is different."

"Really?" Stacy questioned. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Maybe I'm hearing things." She replied and rang Stacy up.

While the sales clerk was ringing Stacy up Randy had snuck out the dressing room. He ran out the store unnoticed to everyone that worked there. Once Stacy paid for her lotions and sprays she walked out the store calmly. She saw Randy across from the store. She casually walked over to him. Once they both were with each other, they started walking without speaking. They walked over to the food court and sat down at an empty table. No more then a minute later they both started laughing.

"I can't believe you did that?" Stacy laughed.

"It was funny." Randy smirked. "I knew it would embarrass you."

"Oh, how sweet of you." Stacy shook her head with a smile.

"I bet it would be sweeter of me if I bought us a smoothie." Randy spoke.

"Yeah it would be." Stacy smiled at Randy as he left to get the smoothie.

XoxoxoxoX

Paul and Chris walked back up into Paul's bedroom with two heavy duty sandwiches. They had everything you could possibly imagine on their sandwiches. Mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese ham, turkey, roast beef, and salami. Along with their sandwiches they had a tall glass of milk. Paul shut his door when they were fully in his bedroom. Chris sat down at Paul's desk while Paul plopped down on his bed and they both began to eat their sandwiches. The room was silent. The only thing a person could hear was the sounds of them eating. Once they both had finished their sandwiches in record time of 3 minutes they downed their milk. Paul grabbed his remote control and turned the t.v. on. He flipped through the channels to see if there was anything good on. He finally settled on an ESPN channel that was going over the football recaps. They sat for a few minutes before Paul spoke.

"I was a bit surprised you asked to hang out." Paul stated.

"Really why?" Chris asked as he looked over at his friend.

"I was going to ask you to hangout too." Paul replied.

"Really." Chris answered. "Great minds think alike."

"Yeah they do." Paul chuckled. "I did ask Randy but he said I couldn't hang out with him and Stacy."

"No way." Chris looked at Paul. "That's what I told Trish."

"I guess we really do think alike." Paul replied. "Thanks for hanging out with me."

"Not a problem." Chris smiled.

"It's really helping me to keep my mind off of Steph." Paul answered.

"Is that why you were going to ask me to hang out?" Chris asked.

"Yeah it was." Paul said. "Is that ok?"

"Yeah, its fine." Chris responded as he drifted off into thought.

He was still angry with himself about earlier today. Chris didn't want to lie to Trish. Though, as he thought of it he kind of didn't lie to her. He did tell the truth that he was hanging out with Paul and the reason was true as well. If only he hadn't have made it up before finding out. She was so great to him and she didn't deserve to be treated the way he was treating her. As he sat there thinking about it, he was distracted as Paul threw a pillow in his face.

"Hello?" Paul yelled.

"Sorry, I was thinking." Chris replied.

"You zoned out on me." Paul shook his head. "So, why aren't you hanging out with Trish?"

"I don't know." Chris lied.

"You've got to be the worst liar." Paul laughed.

"You can tell that easily?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, I can." Paul responded. "You act like I was born yesterday."

"Then Trish can tell." Chris sighed.

"What's going on with you two?" Paul questioned.

"She wants to take our relationship to the next level." Chris said confiding in his best friend.

"What do you mean?" Paul questioned again. "Like sex?"

"Yeah." Chris looked down with embarrassment.

"Well, what's the problem?" Paul asked as he looked at his friend. "Wait, are you trying to say that…"

"Yeah…" Chris spoke meeting Paul's eye contact.

"Why aren't you ready?" Paul replied.

"I'm not exactly sure." Chris started. "I want this relationship to work. All my past relationships ended badly and in a matter of a few months because we moved too fast. I don't want that to happen with Trish."

"Chris, I know I'm not the best one in relationship advice right now." Paul spoke.

"Any advice would work right now." Chris replied.

"You and Trish have been friends since forever." Paul began. "You two are very close and have already shared a lot of personal things with each other as friends. The same things you would share with a significant other. You both trust each other greatly and that's a good thing. Yeah, you two may have just started dating, but you two have known each other a lifetime. They always say that friends make the best lovers. Chris, you could just say that you two have been dating forever, because having a girl as a best friend is almost like having them as your girlfriend. The only difference is that you are attracted to them. Look what happened with the whole Brock thing. You two were able to overcome that. Obviously Trish isn't going anywhere and she loves you no matter what."

"Thanks man." Chris smiled taking his friend's advice. "That actually helps."

"No problem." Paul smirked. "So are you going to?"

"A man never kisses and tells." Chris laughed

"That's a yes." Paul chuckled.

"With such good advice…" Chris started. "Why aren't you taking any of your own?"

"What do you mean?" Paul questioned.

"I know we are trying to keep your mind off of Steph…" Chris began. "But with that advice you just gave me, I'm sure you could think of the right thing to do with Steph."

"Its different." Paul said bluntly.

"How so?" Chris asked.

"Its different when you are the person seeking advice." Paul sighed.

"Well, what about this…" Chris explained. "If you love something set it free. If it returns its yours forever, if not then it was never meant to be."

"Yeah ok." Paul sighed. "How long is that supposed to take?"

"I'm not sure." Chris looked down. "Sorry."

"Its ok." Paul replied. "I shouldn't take it out on you."

"Well, if I know anything." Chris continued. "Steph is my cousin and she'll come around."

"Randy said the same thing minus the cousin part." Paul shook his head.  
"Come on Paul." Chris spoke. "Keep some faith in my cousin. She just needs time."

"I figured as much." Paul answered. "I'll just move on and if she comes back, I guess we'll see what happens from there."

"That's better spirits." Chris smiled as he threw the pillow back at Paul.

"If you say so." Paul laughed. "I have to actually get over her first."

"That's the hard part." Chris smirked. "Since you are so stubborn."

"Haha, you're so funny." Paul rolled his eyes as he caught the pillow. "But before I do try to move on, I have one final idea of how to get her back."

"Paul, just give it a rest." Chris stated. "What happened to being patient?"

"I will be patient." Paul smiled. "Just after I try one last time. I have to let her know that I'm not giving up on her."

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie sat at her desk working on her history homework. She was having a hard time staying focused. History wasn't her best nor favorite subject. She sighed as she tapped the pencil to her temple. She stood up with a sigh as she turned her radio on. The song "The Art Of Letting Go" by Mikaila came on. As the song progressed Steph couldn't help but look towards her nightstand. Inside the drawer underneath everything were all the pictures of Paul and herself. It was still hard on her to not have any contact with Paul. Steph knew it was for the better though. Forgiving him too easily would mean giving in. She'd be lying to herself if she said she was over him. She clearly wasn't. She bit her lip as the song continued to play.

__

Try to say it's over  
Say the word goodbye.  
But each time it catches in my throat  
Your still here in me  
And I can't set you free  
So I hold on to what I wanted most  
Maybe someday we'll be friend's forever more  
Wish I could open up that door

Now here it comes, the hardest part of all  
Unchain my heart that's holding on  
How do I start to live my life alone?  
Guess I'm just learning,  
Learning the art of letting go

Watching us fade  
What can I do?  
But try to make it through  
the pain of one more day  
Without you

Stephanie had managed to be sitting on her bed looking in that drawer. She didn't even realize she had moved over there. Her heart ached as she looked over the pictures they had taken together. A single tear slipped down her face. Maybe she should call him? No, she couldn't. Not now at least. Another tear slipped down her cheek as she traced the outline of his face with her index finger. They shared something so special and for it all to come to an end. She sighed to herself as she thought of how things weren't as they were. She'd give anything to have the past back again. Although she could have Paul back with the snap of her fingers, she just couldn't let herself do that. He clearly didn't understand how bad he had hurt her. Stephanie was brought out of her thoughts as her friend Kurt walked into her room.

"Why don't you just call him?" Kurt asked shaking his head.

"Its not that easy." Steph stated putting the pictures away.

"Yeah it is." Kurt smiled. "You just pick up the cell phone and dial his number."

"Have you not listened to one word I've told you about Paul and I?" Stephanie asked with a small laugh.

"Yeah I have listened." Kurt replied. "You talk about him everyday."

"I'm sorry." Steph sighed. "I'm just not over him."

"Then why are you pushing him away still?" Kurt questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Stephanie looked at him oddly.

"You still aren't over him." Kurt spoke. "He isn't over you, but you continue to make him think he doesn't have a chance with you anymore."

"I don't know Kurt." Steph sighed. "Its complicated."

"No, its not complicated." Kurt responded. "You just want it to be complicated because you don't want to forgive him so easy. When you know your heart has already forgiven him."

"You don't understand Kurt." Stephanie smiled weakly. "You aren't a girl."

"That's the problem with you girls." Kurt shook his head.

"Excuse me?" Stephanie questioned shock clear in her voice.

"I'm sorry Steph." Kurt started. "Women always want the perfect man. They want the stars and sparks and their perfect Mr. Right. They are so caught up in dreaming of all that to happen, that they don't even realize how hard we try to get your girls' attention. Its like you don't even notice the small things we try to do. Paul went out of his way to send you gifts and try to get in contact with you. Steph, you act as if he hasn't tried anything."

Stephanie sat there quietly. Kurt kind of had a point. It was true that a lot of girls have their hopes up way to high about the kind of guy they want. That does distract them from seeing the reality guys trying to get their attention. Though she wasn't too sure if she agreed with Kurt about Paul. As much as Steph wanted to forgive Paul, she just couldn't. Could she? Steph was confused on how you could just so easily forgive someone. As she thought about it a bit longer everything started to become clear to her. If you love someone, forgiving them is always possible to do, even if it is quicker then you'd imagine.

"Thanks Kurt." Steph smiled as she hugged him. "You're right."

"You're welcome." Kurt smiled returning the hug.

"You don't think he's moved on already do you?" Stephanie asked with a small smile.

"You know Steph…" Kurt smirked. "For some odd reason, I really don't think he has moved on just yet."

"Should I call him?" Stephanie questioned unsure.

"What does your heart say?" Kurt asked his friend.

Stephanie smiled as she ran over to her desk picking up her cell phone. Her heart raced as she pressed the number two and held it down. She still hadn't changed him from her speed dial. Steph waited impatiently while the phone rang. Kurt smiled as he watched his friend. As he became better friends with Stephanie over the period of time, he realized that he'd always love her, but knew that nothing would happen between them. They were too good of friends to start a romantic relationship. He looked up at Steph's face as she hung her cell phone up with a frown.

"He didn't answer." Steph pouted. "Maybe he is over me."

"I'm sure he will call you back later tonight." Kurt stated. "If not, just talk to him at school tomorrow. He can't be over you that quick."

"Thanks Kurt." Stephanie smiled. "You're the best!"

XoX

Kendal, Paul's three year old baby sister smiled as she ran around the kitchen. She had just had a piece of candy and was very hyper. She came to a sudden halt when she heard her brother's cell phone go off. Her eyes darted to the cell phone on the counter and her head titled a bit to the left. The corners of her mouth raised forming a smirk. She ran over to a chair and pulled it back to where the cell phone was. She then climbed up on the chair and grabbed the cell phone. Little Kendal couldn't exactly read just yet as she watched the name _Stephanie _scroll across the screen. She jumped up on the chair excitedly. She was going to go give her brother the phone when it slipped out of her hand and fell into the sink full of water.

"Uh oh!" Kendal bit her bottom lip quickly putting the chair back in its rightful place and running away from the scene.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish sighed as she sat on her couch flipping through the channels. She was bored out of her mind, as well as being upset. She would have called Stephanie, but she didn't feel like talking about her feelings. She knew Steph would be able to sense that something was wrong. Nothing good was on t.v. either and that just made things worse. Every show that was one continuously remind her of Chris. She still had it stuck in her head that he had lost feelings for her. Her eyes began to tear up again as she thought of what took place earlier today. A few minutes later she heard a knock on her door. She quickly wiped her eyes as she headed over to the door. She looked through the peep hole to see who it was. She was a bit shocked to be seeing him standing at her door.

"Brock?" Trish questioned opening her door. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood." Brock smiled. "I thought I'd stop by to see how you were."

"I'm doing good." Trish faked a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm good too." Brock smirked. "I don't buy it."

"Buy what?" Trish asked confused.

"That you are ok." Brock stated. "Something is wrong."

"I'm ok." Trish gave a weak smile. "Seriously."

"Then why are your eyes red?" Brock asked. "They look like you've been crying."

Brock hit a sore spot. Once he said those last few words Trish broke down. Brock quickly gave Trish a hug. He didn't realize how bad things were with whatever her problem was. He managed to help her back inside the house and shut the door behind him. He rubbed Trish's back as she cried into his chest. He wished he could help her with her problem. She would have to open up to him first. He sighed to himself as he felt her escape his grip. Trish headed up the stairs away from Brock. He figured he should stay downstairs, but he wanted to make sure she was ok. He followed her upstairs and into her bedroom. Brock quietly opened her bedroom door. Trish was sitting on her bed crying her eyes out. He walked in quietly and shut the door behind him. He went over and sat down next to her. Instinctively Trish leaned her head on Brock's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her to help soothe her.

"Trish…" Brock said softly. "Talk to me."

"He doesn't love me anymore." Trish cried harder.

"Who doesn't?" Brock asked confused.

"Chris!" Trish stated as she burred her head further into his chest.

"Did he tell you that?" Brock questioned.

"No, but I can tell by his actions." Trish continued to cry. "He lies to me all the time."

"I'm sorry." Brock replied. "He's not even worth it."

"I thought he was different." Trish spoke looking up at Brock.

"They all seem different at first." Brock gave her a small smile as he wiped away her tears.

"But he was supposed to be different." Trish sighed. "He was/is my best friend."

"What changed?" Brock asked.

"I wanted to take things further." Trish bit her lip. "He makes excuses not to be alone with me."

"Trish, you are a beautiful woman." Brock smiled at her. "Any guy would be lucky to have you. If Chris doesn't realize that then maybe you two are better off friends."

"Maybe we are." Trish breathed deeply. "I don't know what I did wrong."

"It's not your fault Trish." Brock spoke up. "He just doesn't realize what a good thing he has. I mean, guys would kill to be in his shoes."

"Would you?" Trish looked up at Brock with her red teary eyes.

"Yeah I would." Brock gave her a soft smile.

Trish locked eye contact with Brock for the longest time. Without any hesitation or thinking she leaned in and kissed Brock square on the lips. Brock knew this was wrong, but didn't push away. Trish was already in an emotionally hurt state and he didn't want to cause her anymore hurt. By him pulling away she'd think he was lying and he'd be classified under Chris. He was enjoying the kiss though.

Trish sighed as she continued to kiss Brock with her eyes shut. All she could think about was Brock at the moment. He was being such a great guy and friend. It reminded her of the past when they dated for only a short time. The kiss they were sharing only reminded her more of their past together. Trish couldn't help but lift Brock's shirt up over his head. She then continued the kiss. Things continued to go further and further. For the time being Brock was curing Trish's broken heart. Sadly to say, Chris was the furthest thing from Trish's mind at the moment. She didn't want to think about how Chris didn't love her anymore. Trish wanted to give her full attention to Brock at the moment. Brock was giving Trish what she had been longing for from Chris. She was so concentrated on Brock, that she didn't even notice her cell phone on her nightstand. The screen started flashing because it was on silent, signaling an incoming call. The screen continued to flash for a minute before it went to her voicemail.

"Hey, its Trish. I can't get to the phone right now because I'm busy. Leave me your name and number and I'll get back to you, and Chris if this is you, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Bye!!"

Beep!!

"Hey Sweetheart, its me Chris. Yeah, I'm over here at Paul's place. I was just thinking of you and I wanted to see how you were doing. I guess you probably found someone to hang out with or something. Well, I just wanted to tell you to keep tomorrow open after school. If you are wondering for how long, just keep the entire night free for tomorrow. I've got a surprise for you that I'm sure you'll love. I miss you baby. I love you. Call me."

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Citcat


	33. Happiness Vs Sadness

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 33: Happiness Vs. Sadness

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Tuesday morning came by rather quickly. Everyone was slowly getting up and getting ready for school. Some were already at school while others were getting a late start. The actions of Monday had rolled over on to Tuesday for some. For some people the things were good and for others, well, they'd wish that it was all a dream.

XoX

Randy yawned as he put his try with all the other dirty trays on the counter at school. He was extremely tired. The night before, Randy and Stacy had hung out the entire day after school. Once they had been escorted out of the mall by security guards they had went back to his place. They hung out in his room just listening to music and talking about their day. Time had gone by rather quickly for them that they didn't notice it was one in the morning and they were still up. Randy had then walked Stacy home safely. After dropping her off, he went back home and went directly to sleep. Randy was in his own little world when he was startled out of it.

"HEY!!" Stacy chimed jumping on Randy's back from behind.

"How many cups of coffee did you have today?" Randy asked as he grabbed her legs securing her to his back.

"None!" Stacy smiled.

"Sugar?" Randy questioned.

"None!" Stacy smirked.

"Then why the hell are you so hyper active this early in the morning?" Randy laughed as he carried her out of the cafeteria.

"Andrew finally invited me over for Thanksgiving!" Stacy replied happily.

"Really?" Randy asked. "I thought you were coming over to my place?"

"Oh!?" Stacy had completely forgot.

"It's ok." Randy said putting her down. "Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" Stacy asked looking at him. She felt bad.

"Yeah, its fine." Randy gave her a small smile. "You should be with your boyfriend."

"You're the best Randy!" Stacy spoke as she wrapped her arms around him for a hug.

"You know…" Andrew walked up to Randy and Stacy. "If I didn't know that Randy was your best friend, I would be a bit jealous right now."

"Andrew!!" Stacy's face began to glow as she ran over to him jumping into his arms.

"Hello to you too!" Andrew laughed.

"I missed you!!" Stacy stated.

"You just saw me like five minutes ago." Andrew said confused.

"I know." Stacy bit her lip. "It seemed like forever."

"You are too cute." Andrew smirked kissing her.

"I try." Stacy grinned kissing him back.

Randy rubbed the back of his neck as the two interacted with each other. It was as if he was invisible to them. It upset him that they were together, but she was happy and that made Randy happy for now. He sighed as Stacy and Andrew continued to make out in front of him. He pulled out his cell phone and noticed it was only 7:10 in the morning. He knew it was going to be a long day. Randy looked up as he noticed Stacy getting ready to leave.

"I'll see you after school today?" Stacy questioned looking at Randy.

"Huh?" Randy stated coming back to reality.

"Me and you…" Stacy spoke. "Hanging out, after school?"

"Oh yeah, sorry." Randy answered. "I'll see you then."

"Ok, bye." Stacy smiled giving Randy a hug then turning to Andrew and giving him a kiss. "I'll call you later."

Stacy skipped off down the hall happily. She was very happy. Her two favorite men were getting along and she was drama free for the first time in a long time. It felt really good to her. Andrew and Randy watched Stacy walk down the hall. Their eyes were glued to her. Once she turned the corner both Andrew and Randy's eyes met. They looked at each other with the same look. The look of jealousy lingered on both of their faces.

"Orton, just back off." Andrew said lowly.

"I'm not doing anything." Randy smirked.

"Like hell you are." Andrew spoke his eyes glaring at Randy.

"What am I doing Andrew?" Randy questioned with a smug look on his face.

"You're moving in on my girlfriend." Andrew seethed. "Stay away from her."

"We're just friends." Randy laughed as he walked off. "Get over yourself."

Randy couldn't help but laugh to himself as he left Andrew standing there. He wasn't in the mood to argue with him and if he had started a fight, it would ruin his friendship with Stacy. She was happy with Andrew and Randy was going to leave it that way. Stacy had said that they could possibly be more then friends again. But now just wasn't the time for them to be on that romantic level. He actually enjoyed her friendship at the moment.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish sighed to herself as she walked into the school building. Her mind was racing with millions of thoughts of how today was going to go. She had so many different emotions running through her head. All she could think about was what she had done. She had slept with Brock the previous night. Trish couldn't believe that she had actually gone through with it. At first she didn't feel as bad about what she had done. The reason being she hadn't felt bad at first was because she thought that Chris had stopped loving her. That was stuck in her head the entire time. What had changed her mind about Chris not loving her anymore? It was simple.

__

"Hey Sweetheart, its me Chris. Yeah, I'm over here at Paul's place. I was just thinking of you and I wanted to see how you were doing. I guess you probably found someone to hang out with or something. Well, I just wanted to tell you to keep tomorrow open after school. If you are wondering for how long, just keep the entire night free for tomorrow. I've got a surprise for you that I'm sure you'll love. I miss you baby. I love you. Call me."

That voicemail rang in Trish's head all night long. She couldn't muster up the courage to call him back either. That one little message proved her thoughts wrong. She could tell that Chris hadn't lost feelings for her. Trish could tell by the tone of his voice in the message he had left her. He sounded love struck. Due to that voicemail she felt even more guilty then before. Her stupid mind was playing games with her head and she let them win. Though she still couldn't understand why he was lying or pushing her away still. Though that was still a question lingering in her mind, she knew that he was still in love with her.

Trish turned a corner into a hall that had her locker in it. She looked down the hall and noticed a red rose from a far. As she continued to walk down the hall she realized it was attached to her locker. She bit her bottom lip. She knew it was from Chris. Trish's eyes started to water. Chris and the things that he does for her is a big reminder of the sin she had followed through with. All the sweet things he would do for her, would now remind her of the sin she had done. Trish had finally reached her locker and took the rose off of her locker. She smelt it as a tear escaped her eye. Her heart jumped as she felt two arms wrap around her waist from behind. She shut her eyes as she felt his head lean in and kiss her cheek and then his chin rested in the crook of her neck.

"Good morning beautiful." Chris smiled against her cheek. "You never called back yesterday."

"I was busy." Trish barely let out.

"That's ok." Chris replied as he turned Trish around. "We'll make up for it after school."

Trish was going to ask him what he meant when she was cut off by his lips meeting hers. She eagerly kissed him back. She quickly allowed him access to her tongue. Their tongues battled each other for dominance. Chris' hand rested on Trish's hips as he gently pushed her up against the lockers. Both their hearts raced as Chris took one of his hands and moved it up to Trish's face massaging her cheek then continuing on through her hair. The kiss was passionate and intense. When Chris broke the kiss to come up for air he leaned his forehead on Trish's forehead. He looked at her as she stood their with her lips still puckered up and eyes shut. He smiled as he could tell she was waiting for him to kiss her again. Trish had opened her eyes as she felt Chris staring at her. Their eyes met and she could see all the love he had for her in his eyes. There was a sparkle and happiness in his eyes. He gave her a few butterfly kisses before he spoke to her again.

"Meet me at my place after school." Chris smiled as he kissed her one last time before walking off.

She watched as Chris disappeared down the hallway. Her heart raced still from the kiss they had just shared. Trish was breathless. He had taken her breath away with that kiss. She still couldn't believe that actually had happened. She turned to her locker and opened it. As she opened it she placed the rose in her locker and looked at her pictures that hung on her locker. She smiled at one of her and Chris. In a matter of seconds her smile faded into a frown. Realization had just sunk in. She turned her head quickly down the hall where Chris once was. She started thinking to herself. Tears began to form in her eyes as her thoughts raced in her head. That kiss they shared wasn't any ordinary kiss. That kiss was leading somewhere. It was way too passionate. Her heart broke into a million of pieces. He was going to finally give her what she wanted. Trish slammed her locker shut. Why did she have to be stupid and have to ruin things.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie smiled as she walked into the student lounge. She had about twenty minutes before class started. She knew that Paul was known to hang out in the lounge before class. This was her chance to talk to him. She had called him a few times the night before after Kurt had left, but it continued to go straight to his voicemail. She didn't leave any messages because she was afraid that he could possibly be avoiding her now. She didn't want to think that though. Kurt had convinced her that Paul wasn't over her just yet. She could only hope Kurt was right. Speaking of Kurt, Stephanie had invited Kurt over for Thanksgiving dinner. Sadly he had declined. He was heading back to Pittsburg to spend it with his other family on his father's side. Stephanie looked around the lounge. She didn't see Paul anywhere. She sat down on one of the couches to wait for a little bit.

XoX

Paul entered the school building with the biggest smile on his face. If this plan he had didn't work, he didn't know what would. As he walked down a hall he pulled out his new cell phone. He looked at his phone to check the time. He still had about twenty minutes until class started. He had to find her quick. He put his new cell phone back in his pocket. He shook his head as he remembered finding his cell phone in the sink full of water. Paul knew his baby sister Kendal had done it. He wasn't upset with her though. He actually thought it was pretty funny. Paul was due for an upgrade to his cell phone anyway. Paul turned a corner and walked down the hall. He saw Trish standing at the end of it at her locker. He smiled as he made his way to her. She'd know where Steph was.

"Hey Trish." Paul smiled walking up to her.

"Hey." Trish whispered.

"You ok?" Paul questioned.

"Yeah, just fine." Trish lied.

"Ok, can you help me with something?" Paul asked nicely.

"What?" Trish sighed looking at Paul.

"I need you to help me find Steph." Paul replied. "Then make sure she goes into the lounge."

"She's already in the lounge." Trish spoke. "I saw her this morning."

"Well then come on." Paul said pulling Trish by the hand.

Trish looked at Paul like he was crazy. What was he up to now? Didn't he know Steph wasn't in the mood to talk to him or be around him? She shook her head as she let Paul continue to pull her. Paul walked pretty fast to the student lounge. Once he entered he looked around. His eyes scanned over everyone looking for Stephanie. Paul's eyes landed directly on Stephanie. She was sitting on the couch reading a magazine. A small smile formed on his lips. This was it. It was now or never. Paul then turned and looked at Trish.

"I need you to go sit with her." Paul started. "Make sure she stays in there."

"What? Why?" Trish questioned. "For how long?"

"You'll know for how long." Paul smirked. "You'll get my signal."

With that said Paul pushed Trish into the lounge towards Stephanie. Trish looked on confused as Paul walked over to the coffee cart. She couldn't help but muster out a little laugh. She could only imagine what Paul was going to do. Trish then looked over at Stephanie and walked over to her. She smiled as she sat down.

"Hey." Trish spoke hiding her hurt still.

"Hey." Stephanie smiled looking at her friend. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I am." Trish said looking away. How did all her friend know when she was upset.

"Are you sure?" Steph questioned. "You don't look ok."

"I'm fine." Trish faked a smile. "What are you doing?"

"I'm actually waiting for Paul." Steph bit her lip as she blushed.

"Are you serious?" Trish was in shock as she looked over at Paul who was talking to the cashier of the coffee cart.

"Yeah." Stephanie smiled like a little girl in love.

"I thought you were angry with him?" Trish spoke confused.

"I was." Steph continued. "Then I realized that if you love someone, its easy to forgive them."

Trish looked from Paul to Steph. The words Stephanie had just said lingered in her head. _"If you love someone, its easy to forgive them." _Could that be true? What if it was true? She couldn't help but think of Chris again. Would he be able to forgive her for what she had done? Trish was knocked out of her thoughts as she noticed Paul from the corner of her eye.

Paul climbed up on the coffee cart. He coughed loudly enough for everyone to turn and look at him. His heart raced as he looked around at everyone. His eyes darted over to Stephanie. He watched as she wasn't looking at him just yet. Trish's eyes widen as she looked at Paul. Was he nuts? Trish grabbed Stephanie's arm and pointed to Paul on the coffee cart. Stephanie looked at Trish and then her eyes followed Trish arm. Her eyes followed Trish arm all the way up to where she was pointing. Steph's eyes landed on Paul standing on the coffee cart. Her heart began to race wondering what the hell he was doing. Slowly, both Paul and Steph's eyes met. Her sitting on the couch and him standing on the coffee cart. Trish watch the two stare at each other. She bit her lip as she watched them look at each other without sound. Her heart began to break as she realized what was going to happen. Trish looked up at Paul as she heard him begin to talk.

"Everyone I have something to say." Paul began, his eyes never leaving Stephanie. "We all know Stephanie McMahon." He pointed towards Stephanie as she stared at him wondering what he was up to. "Stephanie has been my best friend since we were born practically. We've always been friends. She brings out the best in me. The happiest day of my life was September 24th. That is the day that Steph and I became more then friends. I never thought I'd see that day come true." Paul sighed as he continued to speak. "But now, I'm all the way over here on this coffee cart, while she's all the way over there on that couch. I screwed up badly. I should have trusted her and I should have listened to her. I was a fool to believe the things that I did. I think the reason I did the things I did, was because I was scared. I was scared I'd lose you." Paul spoke directly to Steph now. "What I didn't realize, was that I'd already lost you by not listening to you. I'm a jerk, and you deserve so much better then me. But I can't stand around wanting you and not do something about it. Stephanie, I'm so sorry. I can only hope that you can find it somewhere in your heart to forgive me."

Stephanie bit her lips as she looked at Paul. Tears of happiness forming in her eyes. She slowly stood up from the couch. She made her way over to the coffee cart that Paul was standing on. Paul looked at her as she made her way over to him. Their eyes never broke contact. He watched as she came up to the coffee cart. She shook her head in disbelief. He cursed to himself as he wondered what she was going to do next. Surprisingly, Stephanie put her hand up reaching out for him. He took her hand pulling her up onto the coffee cart with him. Stephanie's smile grew bigger as she looked at him. She had missed him and she wasn't going to wait any longer. She pulled Paul to her and she kissed him with all the love that she felt for him. Everyone in the lounge smiled and clapped along with a few aws.

Trish watched her two friends interact with each other. She couldn't help but let a few tears slip down her cheeks. Her and Chris used to be that happy. They still were, or you could say he still was. For now at least. Things wouldn't be the same once she told him the truth. She couldn't lie to him about this. She bit her lip as she got up off the couch. She looked at Paul and Stephanie one last time. She was happy for them, but it hurt her too much to watch them be happy together.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please review.

Citcat


	34. Longing For The Past

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 34: Longing For The Past

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

After school came rather quick for everyone. It came too quickly for Trish though. She had wished that the school day would have drug out longer. She dreaded going over to Chris' after school, though she knew she had to go. Everyone else seemed eager and happy that the say was over. That meant they could relax and hang out.

XoX

Stephanie smiled as she exited the school building. She breathed in the fresh air. Her face still had the huge smile plastered on it from this morning. She had been glowing all day. She sighed as she walked down the steps of the school. She had walked to school that day with Stacy and Chris. Stephanie stopped before leaving the school grounds. She was still hesitant on walking alone. She looked back at the school and noticed all the people who were walking around and talking to each other. She didn't see any of her friends and she really didn't want to walk alone. Her heart raced as she pulled out her cell phone. She went to dial Randy's number. She would have called one of the girls, but she just felt safer with a male. Right before she hit send, she felt a hand on her shoulder which scared her. She turned and screamed.

"Whoa!!" Paul stepped back.

"Paul!?" Stephanie breathed with a sigh of relief. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry." Paul looked at her. "I didn't mean to."

"It's ok." Stephanie took deep breaths to regain her composer. "What's up?"

"Well, I was hoping that you'd let me walk you home?" Paul smiled.

"You were hoping?" Stephanie smiled at him. "Or you knew I would let you?"

"A little of both?" Paul smirked raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah, you can walk me home." Stephanie stated happily putting her cell phone away.

They left the school campus and started walking. They took a longer way home, so they could spend more time together. They talked like they had used to talk. Everything seemed so perfect and right. Though they both stayed clear of the whole incident that messed up their relationship in the first place. Paul really wanted to talk about it. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was and just explain everything to her. He wasn't sure if he should though. Things were going perfectly fine and he didn't want to screw that up. He turned his head and looked at her and he smiled. She looked up at him, with a hint of rosy cheeks. She knew by looking Paul in the eyes that she hadn't lost feelings for him and she never had to second guess her feelings for him. Stephanie smirked as he turned his head away from her. Once he did that, she took her hand and entwined it with his. She casually looked away like she hadn't done anything. Paul turned and looked at her and then their hands. He smiled at their hands as he gave her a knowing squeeze. Stephanie couldn't help but bite her bottom lip as she blushed. She always felt like a little school girl with him. Paul soon stopped walking as Stephanie continued to walk. She was then jolted to a stop as she didn't feel him walking along side her. As she stopped, he slightly tugged on her arm and pulled her in for a hug. He breathed in the scent of her hair. He had missed her so much. He knew better then to screw up this time. Stephanie smiled as he hugged her. It seemed like they were getting back on track. She couldn't resist it anymore. She had to do it. She pulled away from the hug and looked him in the eyes. Her heart raced as she leaned in and kissed him. He smiled as he kissed her back.

"I missed that." Stephanie blushed her arms still around Paul.

"I missed you." Paul said leaning his forehead on hers. "I'm really sorry."

"Paul…" Steph started but he cut her off.

"Steph, I'm an idiot." Paul explained. "I really am. I should have listened to you."

"Paul, its ok." Stephanie spoke.

"No its not." Paul put his head down. "I hurt you and I was wrong about everything."

"Stop it!" Stephanie demanded.

"Sorry." Paul sighed looking away from her.

"We don't have to discuss this anymore." Stephanie answered. "We both know what's right and what's wrong."

"I just want you to know that it wont happen again." Paul finally looked at her.

"Paul..?" Stephanie looked into his eyes. They looked like they were holding back tears.

"I lost you once." Paul looked away from her. "I don't want to lose you again."

"I love you." Stephanie smiled as she took her hands and turned his head to face her.

"I love you too." Paul replied looking her deep in her eyes.

She smiled hearing him say the words back. She leaned up and kissed him deeply. He returned the kiss wrapping his arms around her waist. This was the first time they had told each other that they loved each other. This moment would stay with them forever.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy smiled as she walked into her bedroom with two water bottles. She threw one at Randy who was sitting on the floor. She sat down next to him taking the top off of her bottle. She took a long drink letting the cool liquid run down her throat. Once she took the one sip she looked at Randy. She noticed that his water bottle was half empty. She shook her head. She didn't understand how he could just down everything. They were just hanging out watching t.v. The point of them hanging out so much, was to see if they could be friends again. Stacy was happy about it though. They were actually being friends. She was finally happy and content with the way things were going at the moment. What also made Stacy happy, was the fact that she could hang out with Randy, and have Andrew be ok with it. She was finally able to have both. A best guy friend and a boyfriend at the same time.

"Earth to Stacy?" Randy said waving his hand in her face.

"Oh, sorry." Stacy smiled.

"What were you thinking of?" Randy questioned.

"Nothing." Stacy replied. "What's up?"

"Nothing really." Randy shook his head. "I was telling you this story and you weren't responding."

"Oh…" Stacy blushed a bit. "I didn't mean to drift off."

"It's ok." Randy smiled. "Don't worry about it."

"You're the best Randy." Stacy spoke. "Seriously."

"I try." Randy smirked.

"So, I've had enough with t.v." Stacy replied. "I say we watch a movie."

"Sounds good to me." Randy yawned leaning against the bed.

"How about Fun with Dick and Jane?" Stacy asked.

"Put it in." Randy stated.

Stacy put the movie in and went and sat back down next to Randy. They started watching the movie. As the movie went further into the plot Randy and Stacy were both laughing hysterically. They had both started replaying the scenes and laughing so hard that they began to cry. One thing led to another and Stacy was laying on the floor on her back. Randy was on top of her tickling her sides. She was dying with laughter try to get him to stop. Both their hearts raced as they continued to laugh.

"Randy.. Please…stop.." Stacy gasped for air.

"Say it." Randy smirked continuing to tickle her.

"Say.. What?" Stacy breathed.

"Randy Orton is the sexiest man alive." Randy stated with a smirk happy with his choice.

"Never!" Stacy cried out with laughter.

"Then, I'll never stop." Randy laughed continuing to tickle her.

"Ok." Stacy couldn't breathe. "Randy Orton is the sexiest man alive."

"I know I am." Randy smirked cockily.

"Oh, get over yourself." Stacy giggled. "Help me up please."

Randy shook his head as he got off from on top of her. He took her hand to help pull her up from the laying position she was in. Randy took her hand and pulled her up to a sitting position next to him. Their faces came only inches away from each other. Their noses just barely grazed each other. Their eyes locked as they both breathed a little heavily from laughing so hard. They stared into each others eyes looking for answers. Their hearts raced as they continued to breath heavily. Someone could break the tension with a knife. Randy turned his head slightly to the left and Stacy to the right. Their eyes shut both leaning in.

_She's got legs… And she knows how to use them…_

Stacy's cell phone went off which, shook Randy and Stacy out of their trance. They both quickly scooted away from each other and looked around the room. They looked at everything but each other. Stacy was a bit wide eyed as she looked for her phone. As soon as she found her phone, she grabbed it leaving the room to answer it.

Randy sighed and hit himself in the forehead. What was he doing? Stacy had a boyfriend and she was happy with him. Though, he wouldn't have minded kissing her. He had missed her kisses. He shook his head. He couldn't be thinking this. Stacy was finally happy with her boyfriend. She was also finally happy with him and they both had just finally been able to be friends again. As bad as Randy wanted her, he couldn't hurt her again. He had to wait for her to come to him. He sighed as he stood up stretching his legs out.

XoX

"Hey baby." Andrew spoke into the phone.

"Hi." Stacy breathed.

"Everything ok?" Andrew asked. "You seem a bit winded."

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." Stacy smiled. "I just ran to my phone when I heard it ring."

"Did you know it was me?" Andrew laughed.

"I hoped it was." Stacy giggled into the phone.

Stacy smiled as Andrew continued talking to her on the phone. She couldn't help but bite her lip in happiness as he kept talking. Her head turned when she noticed her bedroom door open. She watched as Randy walked out of her room with all of his things. She titled her head to the side as she watched him walk ahead of her. Her eyes scanned him as he turned around. He waved to her mouthing the words "bye". With that said, he walked down the stairs. Stacy stood there a little confused. She didn't mean to just run out on him. She just wasn't sure what would have happened if Andrew hadn't have called her.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish breathed in deeply as she approached Chris' house. She looked outside and only noticed Chris' car. Her heart began to break again. She knew it. In a way she hoped that Noelle would be home. She knew his 13 year old little sister wouldn't ever leave just because Chris asked her to. They had that relationship where they would pick on each other and get on the others nerves. She sighed as she walked up to the front porch. She hesitated before she knocked. She knocked very lightly hoping he wouldn't hear her. To her dismay she noticed the door knob twist. She cursed to herself as Chris opened the door. He stood in front of her with a smile. Chris stepped aside to let Trish in. She reluctantly walking inside. She looked around as she heard soft music playing from afar. Her eyes scanned the room for a presence of Noelle. All the lights were dim. She jumped a little bit as she felt Chris wrap his arms around her waist from behind like he had done this morning. Her head turned and looked at him as he went in for a kiss. She kissed him back. He then moved his lips to her cheek. Chris kissed her cheek and then went from her cheek down to her neck. From her neck he slight moved her shirt exposing her bare shoulder. He smiled as he continued his butterfly kisses onto her shoulder. Trish couldn't help but to melt at his touch. She leaned her head back trying to hold back tears at the same time enjoying this.

"What took you so long?" Chris whispered as he kissed her neck from behind her still.

"I had to stay after for a little bit." Trish heard herself lie.

"That's fine." Chris smiled stepping to the front of Trish. "Come on."

"What?" Trish asked thankful that the lights were dim. He wouldn't be able to see her teary eyes.

"I told you that I have something for you." Chris smirked taking her upstairs.

As they headed up the stairs, Chris led Trish to his bedroom. Trish bit her bottom lip trying to hold back the tears that could fall at any moment. The music she first heard when she walked into his house got a little bit louder. They had finally reached his bedroom door. He pulled Trish in front of him. He wanted her to open the door. She slowly put her hand on the door knob. She took a deep breath as she twisted the knob. As she walked in she couldn't hold in her tears anymore. The sight was way too perfect to be true. The room was lit with candles everywhere. The radio had soft music playing by her favorite artists. The bed had rose pedals spread all over the bed. A few were laying on the floor around the bed. She titled her head as she noticed a small black box sitting on the pillows. She shook her head. This couldn't be happening. As much as she wanted it to, why did it have to happen now? Actually, why did she have to screw up so bad? She watched as Chris stepped in front of her. He pulled her into the room shutting the door behind them. He took her hand and led her to the bed. They both sat down on the side of the bed. Trish's tears were now visible to Chris'. He couldn't help but smile at her. He thought he would get this reaction out of her. He took his thumbs and wiped her tears away that had escaped her eyes. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. She kissed him back wanting this moment to last forever as she continued to cry. Trish had actually contemplated on telling Chris the truth. As much as she didn't want to, she knew she had to tell him. Before she could say anything Chris spoke.

"Trish." Chris started. "I love you so much. I'm so thankful for having you in my life. I never would have thought, that you and I would ever be more then just friends. You are the best thing that has happened to me in a very long time. I'm not going to lie. I know you want to take things to the next level. Yes, I did avoid you. Its just that, I wasn't ready to take that step." Chris wiped more tears from Trish's eyes. "You aren't like any of the other girls I've dated. I moved way to fast with them, and that's what screwed everything up. I didn't want the same thing to happen with you. But, I came to realize that our relationship is different. We've been best friends forever, and its almost as if we've been dating forever."

"Chris…" Trish bit her lip trying to stop him.

"I'm ready to take our relationship to the next level. I love you Trish and I want to be with you forever. I don't know what I would do without you." Chris spoke as he grabbed the little box opening it. "Trish, I want everyone to know that you're my girl and I'm yours. I want you to wear my class ring."

Trish pulled her hand away from Chris as she began crying her eyes out. She put her face into her hands as she cried. Chris was a bit confused. He thought she would be happy. He could tell they weren't tears of happiness anymore. He pulled her into his arms for a hug. Maybe he was moving to fast with the ring.

"Trish, I'm sorry." Chris stated. "I didn't mean to move too fast."

"You're not." Trish cried. "Everything is perfect."

"Then what's wrong?" Chris asked confused.

"I can't accept your ring." Trish frowned. "I really wish I could."

"Why can't you?" Chris questioned unsure of his girlfriend's words.

Trish pulled away and out of Chris arms. She stood up off the bed as she looked around the entire room. She bit her lip again as more tears fell from her eyes. Chris was about to get up to go and comfort her, but she stopped him.

"Don't come near me." Trish begged. "I don't deserve you anymore."

"Trish, stop talking crazy." Chris stated inching closer to her.

"I slept with Brock!" Trish let out all the tears that she had held back.

Chris froze in his steps. He looked dead at her. She avoided his eye contact. Trish looked around everywhere but at Chris. He instantly knew she was telling him the truth. He slowly turned his gaze away from her taking in what he had just heard. He couldn't believe it. He felt so many mixed emotions. He ran his hand through his hair looking around the room. He had done all of this for her. He slowly sat down. He felt as if he couldn't breathe. He was in total shock. Trish looked over at him sitting on the bed. Her heart broke more as she watched him. She knew she had broken his heart. She hated this. She was unsure of what to say or do next.

"Chris.." Trish spoke tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry."

"Leave." Chris said with no emotion and no eye contact.

"Chris…" Trish begged for him to talk to her.

"GO!!" Chris shouted as he turned to look at her as he pointed to the door. "Just leave."

Trish let out more tears as she noticed the hurt in his voice. She was going to try and say something again but when she looked at him they locked eye contact. For the first time ever, she say tears in his eyes. She felt horrible, that the first time she had seen him cry was because of her. With nothing else said, Trish slowly turned and walked out of his room.

XoxoxoxoX

I hope you all liked this chapter. Please review!!


	35. Finding Out The Truth

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 35: Finding Out The Truth

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

Thanks for all the great reviews!!!

XoxoxoxoX

It was finally Wednesday at Greenwich High. Wednesday meant half day for the students. It also meant the day before the big feast of Thanksgiving. It seemed as if everyone was looking forward to Thanksgiving. Spending quality time with their loved ones. The food was always amazing, so they'd say that was a plus. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a happy time filled with love and thanks. This year looked like it would be that way only for a few. They will all pull through it though. Right?

Half days at Greenwich High meant early release at 10:30. Well, the day had gone by rather quickly. No student got any homework for the long awaited four day weekend. As the bell sounded signaling that school was done for the day, all the students ran out the building. The students left in pairs and groups to houses or places to hang out. Some got into their cars and drove to their destination.

XoX

Paul, Stacy, Randy and Stephanie all stood outside the large school building. They were laughing and talking and enjoying each others company. Paul and Stephanie were working on their relationship slowly and taking things steady. They didn't want to screw it up again. It looked as if things were working out so far. As for Randy and Stacy, well they were still just friends. It was a little awkward between them, but they made the best of it. They didn't let the awkwardness get in the way of their friendship. Randy and Stacy acted as if the whole incident between them the previous night had never happened.

"I thought Trish and Chris were meeting us out here?" Stephanie looked around.

"I thought so too." Stacy responded. "I wonder where they are."

"We should just leave them." Paul smirked thinking things went well the other night.

"Why?" Randy questioned looking at Paul.

"They probably just need some alone time." Paul spoke giving Randy a look.

"Ohh." Randy said understanding the hidden meaning.

"What's going on?" Stacy and Stephanie said in union.

"Nothing, why don't we just get out of here." Paul smiled wrapping his arm around Steph.

"Hey guys!" Chris stated running up to them. "Sorry I'm late."

Everyone looked at Chris. They then started looking around for Trish. She wasn't anywhere around him. All four of them looked back up at Chris again. Chris and Trish were always together, and now Trish wasn't at his side. Paul for sure thought Trish wouldn't let Chris out of her sight from what he had assumed that had happened the night before.

"Chris, where is Trish?" Stacy questioned.

"I don't know." Chris jumped to a new topic quickly. "So, what is the plan for today?"

"Well, we thought we would just hang out at my place." Stephanie spoke up.

"Sounds great." Chris smiled. "Who's all going to be there?"

"Are you ok man?" Randy asked. "You know its just a group thing."

"Oh yeah, what was I thinking." Chris shook his head. "So, its going to be all six of us?"

"That's the plan, if Trish ever shows up." Paul stated looking at Chris for answers.

"I'm going to have to pass on this one." Chris said quickly. "I have other plans."

"No you don't!" Stephanie exclaimed. "You said so yourself last night."

"Yeah, well a lot of things changed from last night." Chris answered seeing Trish coming up to them. "I got to go."

"Chris?" Stephanie questioned as he walked off. "What's his problem?"

"I don't know." Paul answered. "I'm going to go find out though."

"Ok." Stephanie smiled kissing him on the cheek before he left.

"Aren't you two just the cutest." Stacy and Randy said together.

"Oh, shut up." Stephanie blushed. "Here comes Trish."

Trish slowly walked up to Stephanie, Stacy and Randy. She looked around wondering where Paul was. She also wondered where Chris was, but she had assumed the worst in his case. Trish put on a fake smile, trying to hide all the pain and hurt that she was feeling. She tried to study her friends' faces to see if they knew anything about the other night. From the looks of it, they were clueless. Trish decided to just leave it at that.

"Hey guys." Trish faked a smile. "What's up?"

"I was hoping you could tell us." Stacy looked at Trish.

"What do you mean?" Trish lied again. She knew exactly what they meant.

"You and Chris?" Randy spoke. "You two are always together."

"Yeah, and he just up and left." Stephanie replied. "Said he had other plans."

"Seriously, how fast do plans change from the night before?" Stacy couldn't understand.

Trish looked on at all of her friends. She knew Chris was hurting, but she never wanted him to avoid her to the point of not hanging out with their friends. Her heart broke into a million pieces of the already million pieces that it was in. She hated herself for the hurt she had caused him. Trish knew that things were going to be bad, but she didn't think things would get this bad. She felt horrible. She didn't know how to answer her friends' questions. The only thing that Trish knew, was if she stood there any longer, she would break down and start crying. She had to get out of there. Without any response from Trish, she turned and walked away from the group as quickly as she could.

"What's up with her now?" Randy asked.

Stacy and Stephanie looked at each other with knowingly looks. They had the same idea, but could only assume that they were right. It was the only thing that made sense right now. Chris leaving and not wanting to hang out with them. Trish not answering any questions and running away without any words. The number one thing that stuck out the most was that they weren't together when they both walked up to the group.

"Randy, why don't you go find Paul and Chris." Stacy smiled giving him a hug.

"Ok, but what about you two?" Randy questioned giving Stacy a hug back.

"We're going to go find out what's going on with Trish. Stephanie answered.

"Alright, see you ladies later." Randy stated leaving to go find Paul and Chris.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy walked around looking for Paul and Chris. He causally walked around the area that they were in looking around. Orton didn't realize how hard it would be to find his friends. He hummed to himself as he turned a corner. He smirked as he found Paul standing on the stairs of the school entrance and Chris sitting on the stairs. Randy tilted his head to the side. Paul looked frustrated, so obviously Chris wasn't talking. Chris looked, well, Randy couldn't put his finger on it. He looked a mixture of things. Randy walked up to his friends.

"So, what's going on?" Randy smiled trying to make the best of things.

"He's not talking." Paul spoke as he stood there staring at Chris.

"Hey buddy!" Randy went and sat down next to Chris. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Chris said not looking at them.

"Ok, if you say so." Randy smirked looking at Paul.

"You're just going to let him off that easy?" Paul asked confused.

"Yeah, why not?" Randy questioned back.

"Well, we don't know what the hell is wrong with him." Paul replied.

"Yeah, but we'll just find out from Steph and Stacy." Randy stated knowingly. "They went to go find out from Trish."

Chris stood up at the sound of Trish's name. Anger and hurt clear in his eyes. Paul looked from Chris to Randy. Randy gave Paul that knowing look as well. He knew if he said that, Chris would react and start talking. It was the only logical explanation. They both watched as Chris' paced back and forth.

"We're done." Chris finally let out. "She broke it off."

"Wait what?" Randy asked a little confused.

"I thought things went great last night?" Paul stated with confusion as well.

"Yeah, they went well until she spilled the beans." Chris was getting angry again.

"What happened?" Randy answered in question.

"She..She..She.." Chris couldn't bring himself to say it again.

"She what?" Randy pushed Chris to speak.

"She cheated on me!" Chris practically yelled.

Randy and Paul looked at each other then back at Chris. They stared at him for the longest time. Had they just heard what they thought? Trish was practically in love with Chris. How could she do something like that to him. Paul was the most confused. He really thought things were going to work out for them. Once Chris had let that out, he felt a little bit better knowing he shared it with his friends. He was still hurting drastically and he couldn't hold it in anymore. He had never loved anyone as much as he had loved Trish. What does he get in return? He got his heart trampled on. He felt sick to his stomach. He gave her everything, and the one thing he couldn't give her right away, she turned to someone else to get it. It wasn't just someone else though. It was Brock. It seemed as if their relationship problems always seemed to fall back on him.

"Well, who was it?" Randy wasn't sure how to ask that question.

"That Mr. Perfect guy." Chris rolled his eyes. "The hero that's always there."

"Huh?" Paul was lost.

"Broke." Chris stated. "She opened her legs to Brock."

"I'm sorry man!" Randy spoke walking over to Chris. "It will be ok."

Chris looked over at Randy. He stared at him for a while. Paul and Randy had noticed this as well. They were unsure of what to say. Chris on the other hand shook his head at Randy. How could Randy understand what he was feeling? Chris rolled his eyes with a slight laugh as he turned his back on Randy. Of all people to tell him it would be ok, Randy would say that. Randy was the one who cheated on Stacy in the first place. Yeah they were friends, but it was a minor little kiss that Randy took place in. Trish actually slept with Brock. How could Randy say things would be ok, when Stacy and Randy were just now beginning to be friends again. Chris knew Randy wanted to be with Stacy again. He also knew there was a chance that that wouldn't happen.

"If you say so Randy." Chris rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should go give your advice to Trish."

"What are you talking about?" Randy asked looking at his friend.

"How can you tell me things are going to be ok?" Chris questioned in return.

"I just know they will be." Randy stated. "You guys are best friends."

"Like you and Stacy?" Chris glared at Randy. "How's that one working out for you?"

"Chris, come on." Paul said getting in the middle. "That's enough."

"No, its not!" Chris replied. "I loved Trish, and I wouldn't have hurt her. Yet she turns around and cheats on me breaking my heart. Then Randy here tries to tell me that its going to be ok. Its not going to be ok. Anytime I look at her, I think of her and Brock. Things will never be the same. I mean come on Randy. Lets get serious. You are just playing a game of cat and mouse with Stacy. She isn't coming back. She's obviously with Andrew right now. They are happier then ever. So she isn't coming back to you. You fucked up and now you need to move on and get your own life. Now you can tell me everything will be ok."

Paul watched as Chris and Randy stared at each other. He wasn't expecting Chris to say the things that he said. Paul shook his head. He couldn't understand why Chris was pinning this on Randy. Yeah, Chris was upset, but Randy wasn't the reason why Trish cheated in the first place. Randy let Chris' words sink in. For the first time, he actually believed that Chris was right. As much as he didn't want to believe them, he couldn't help it. The words stung badly. Randy looked over at Paul and then back at Chris. He nodded and turned around and left them standing there. Chris rolled his eyes as Randy walked off. He looked over at Paul and shrugged his shoulders. With that out of the way, Chris turned and walked the opposite way and left. Paul still stood there in shock.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy and Stephanie headed after Trish quickly. For Trish being upset, she sure could walk pretty fast. Trish had walked all the way over to the bleachers by the football field. She quickly headed over to them and sat down on the bottom bleacher. Stephanie and Stacy breathed a sigh of relief as Trish came to a stop. They hurriedly walked up to her. They both sat down on each side of her. Once Trish realized her friends were sitting next to her, she broke down into tears. Stacy and Stephanie immediately put their arms around Trish bringing her into a group hug. This confirmed their worst fears. They had broken up. The only question left to answer was why. They sat their for a few minutes soothing Trish and trying to get her to calm down. Once they heard her start sniffling they slowly brought her face up out of her hands to look at them.

"Trish, sweetie." Stacy spoke to Trish. "Tell us what's going on."

"He hates me." Trish cried feeling sick to her stomach.

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you." Stephanie reassured her friend. "Hate is such a strong word."

"You don't understand." Trish stated shaking her head. "He does hate me."

"Help us to understand." Stacy rubbed Trish's back. "Talk to us."

"I cheated on him." Trish let out as more tears came to her eyes.

Stacy and Stephanie were at a loss of words. They never would have expected Trish to be the one to cheat. Especially on Chris. She was so into him. They could only wonder what lead her to commit the sin.

"With who?" Stephanie asked.

"Brock." Trish cried again. "I thought Chris' stopped loving me."

"What made you think that?" Stacy questioned.

"I tried to move our relationship to the next level." Trish sighed. "He would always avoid me."

"So he wasn't ready and you were?" Stephanie asked. "So that's why you thought he didn't love you anymore?"

"Yeah." Trish sniffled. "Now everything is ruined."

"Why don't you just try and talk to him?" Stacy questioned.

"I tried." Trish shook her head. "He doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Its probably just for the time being." Stephanie answered. "He can't get rid of you that easy."

"It meant nothing with Brock though." Trish's eyes began to water. "I just wanted Chris so bad, and he didn't seem like he wanted me so I turned to Brock."

"Did you tell Chris that?" Stacy looked at her friend. "When you told him about it."

"I tried to." Trish leaned her head on Stephanie's shoulder. "He couldn't even look at me."

"Its going to take some time." Stephanie reminded her friend. "You have to let it blow over."

"What if it never blows over?" Trish bit her bottom lip.

"I know I'm not the best one to say this." Stacy started. "But, if you look at Randy and I we are friends again after him cheating on me."

"Thanks Stacy." Trish shook her head. "But I didn't just kiss Chris' cousin."

"That's true, but he still cheated on me." Stacy replied. "In time we were able to put it behind us."

"But you'll never forget about it." Trish sighed shaking her head.

"Yeah, I may not be able to just forget about it." Stacy answered. "But its in the past and you can't hold on to the past."

"Things happen for a reason Trish." Stephanie explained.

"I just want to be with him so much." Trish cried again.

"We know." Stacy rubbed her back. "If you two are really supposed to be together, he'll be back."

Trish cried on Stephanie's shoulder again. All Trish wanted to do was make it up to Chris. There was no way she could do anything to make it up to him. She'd lost his trust. She'd lost everything with him. As she leaned her head on Steph, she couldn't help but remember what Stephanie had said in the lounge yesterday. It rang in her head. Maybe Chris didn't actually love her.

"He never loved me." Trish started tearing up again.

"What makes you say that?" Stephanie asked.

"Because you said.." Trish began. "If you love someone, then its easier to forgive them."

"Trish, he has to get over the hurt first." Stephanie sighed. "I had to get over my hurt that Paul caused me, before I could forgive him."

"Then why say its easier?" Trish looked at Stephanie.

"Once you aren't hurt anymore, you can see forgiveness better." Stephanie stated.

"I just want him back in my arms." Trish cried.

"Just give it time Trish." Stacy replied hugging her friend.

"How much time?" Trish asked.

"He'll be back in due time." Stacy spoke with hope. "Things will turn around."

"I hope so." Trish hugged Stacy back.

XoxoxoxoX

I hope you liked this chapter. Review please.


	36. You Should Have Lied

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 36: You Should Have Lied

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

Also, I know that Randy isn't from Baltimore, Maryland. I just needed to arrange some things to fit for how I wanted my story to be for this chapter. The song is called "You Should Have Lied by Stephanie Mcintosh. Also, we are going to pretending that the song is in a guys perspective. Thanks!!

XoxoxoxoX

The rest of Wednesday went by slowly. All families had begun to prepare some of the entrees for their Thanksgiving day dinners. Most of it was just prepping, but most everyone was in the kitchen. The once united group, was yet again divided. By the looks of it, it seemed that Chris and Trish would not be able to be in the same area with each other. They could no longer do group activities again, without someone missing. Paul, Stephanie, Randy and Stacy had no idea how to help their friends. They had broken down into two groups. The girls and the guys. It was usually all the girls talking to one another, because they would be able to see where they were actually coming from. Girls understood girls and guys understood guys. If Trish tried to talk to one of the guys, or Chris try to talk to one of the girls it wouldn't work that well. They just felt more comfortable talking to the same sex. Also, the girls would more then likely assume that guys don't know how they really feel. There are just some things that the girls couldn't talk to the guys about. Though the guys have helped the girls out with their problems as well. The only thing to honestly do, was give Chris his space and try and keep Trish patient. Trish was never one to be patient about anything. The day before, Chris had gone home and sulked in his bedroom. He had questions that he wanted to know answers to, but he couldn't muster up the courage to ask her. He knew if he saw her now, he wouldn't be able to contain his emotions. As for Trish, she had gone home a little while after being comforted by her friends. She couldn't get him off her mind when she was home. There were pictures everywhere of him that kept her reminded of everything. She couldn't bare to take them down. Her heart was still with him, and she prayed that they'd be able to fix things. If her friends could fix things, they could hopefully do the same. Trish wanted to call him and explain everything. She just wanted to hear his voice and talk to him.

XoX

Randy walked around the grocery store. His mother had sent him out to get a few extra things for their Thanksgiving dinner. They were having both Mr. and Mrs. Orton's sides of the family over. Randy walked up and down the aisles tossing things in the cart. He stopped in an aisle as he looked at the cart. Orton shook his head with a small chuckle looking into the cart. A few extra items meant an entire cart full of food. He'd be sure to question his mother's motives of a "few extra". He sighed as he started pushing the cart forward. He came to a sudden stop as his cart crashed into another cart. He looked up and smiled as he saw Stacy in front of him. As quickly as the smile formed on his face, he thought of what Chris has said earlier.

"Hey!" Stacy smiled at Randy. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm picking up a few last minute things for my mom." Randy shook his head. "I'll have to ask her what she meant by a 'few'"

"Really, my mom sent me to do the same thing." Stacy giggled.

"I thought you were going to Andrew's?" Randy questioned.

"I am." Stacy beamed. "Not until later though."

"Oh…" Randy spoke. "I'm sure it will be loads of fun."

"I hope so." Stacy smiled as she pulled her cart out from in front of Randy. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see ya." Randy smiled walking the opposite way of Stacy.

For the first time in a while, Randy actually felt like the conversation he had with Stacy was just a friendly one. He actually felt pretty good. Maybe this friend thing would work with Stacy. He had to be friends first, before anything could happen. He wasn't going to lie though, I did really want Stacy back, but he couldn't wait around forever. Like Chris said, he was playing a game of cat and mouse. The mouse was obviously into having another cat snatch it up. He could deal with just being her friend. He smiled to himself as he turned a corner. Yet again, he bumped into another cart.

"I'm sorry…" The young woman spoke.

Randy looked at the young woman. She looked to be his age. She had long dark brown hair with beautiful brown eyes. Her clothing looked to fill out every one of her curves. She had the most gorgeous smile. Randy couldn't help but have his breath taken away from him. He smirked as he put his hands up in defense.

"Don't be sorry." Randy smiled. "It was all my fault."

"Are you sure?" She spoke. "I'm new around here."

"Oh really?" Randy asked looking her up and down.

"Yeah, I just moved here from Milwaukee, Wisconsin." She blushed feeling his eyes scan her up and down. "I don't really know anyone."

"Let me be the first to change that." Randy stated with a smirk. "I'm Randy Orton."

"It's nice to meet you Randy." She smiled batting her eyes. "I'm Candice Michelle."

"Candice, such a beautiful name." Randy answered. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Looks like you've got a big Thanksgiving dinner to get ready for." Candice gave a small smile looking away.

"Yeah, I do." Randy replied taking notice of the two t.v. dinners in her cart. "Would you like to join me at my place for dinner?"

"I couldn't intrude." Candice looked up at Randy. "It's just last minute."

"I insist." Randy said. "We always end up having plenty of leftovers."

"I don't know." Candice exclaimed. "My mother would be alone."

"She can come to." Randy stated.

"I can ask her." Candice beamed.

"How about I follow you home and then you can ride with me back to my place." Randy offered.

"Ok, sounds like a plan." Candice blushed. "Thanks for inviting us."

"How could I not invite you?" Randy raised an eyebrow. "You're beautiful."

Candice blushed a deep shade of red. Her heart jumped when he called her beautiful. She was thankful to have ran into him. She didn't want to be in a town and not make any friends. She smiled as they checked out and headed out the store. Candice slowly walked out the store behind Randy trying to delay the exit. She knew he'd follow her home, and she didn't want him to. She quickly thought of an excuse as Randy started to notice her slow walking pace.

"Hey, why are you walking so slow?" Randy questioned.

"I don't know." Candice smiled.

"Well, come on." Randy smiled. "We have to get you home so you can ask."

"Um, why don't you just give me your address and I'll find my way there?" Candice asked.

"Are you sure?" Randy replied. "I could easily just give you a ride to my place."

"Yeah, its fine." Candice answered. "I want to spend a little time with my mom."

Randy nodded and gave her his address. In return they both exchanged phone numbers as well. They talked for a little bit longer before Randy's mom called him asking what was taking him so long. They both said their goodbyes. Candice smiled as she stood and watched Randy get into his car. She continued watching him as he pulled out of the parking space. He drove past her with his window down and gave her the "Orton" signature grin. Of course Candice blushed as he took off. She shook her head as she walked down the middle of the parking lot passing by all the cars.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy exited the grocery store with her items. She shook her head as she had walked by Randy and Candice unnoticed. She smiled at the thought of Randy meeting a new girl. Stacy thought it would be for the best if he had started to date other girls. That way, they would honestly know if they were meant to be together. The "Eskimo kiss" that Stacy and Randy shared had crossed her mind plenty of times. She thought it meant something, but she just brushed it off. Stacy was happy with her situation right now. Friends with Randy and dating Andrew. She was going to stick with it.

She pulled up into her driveway. Stacy got out of her car and grabbed the bags that she had purchased. Pulling out her keys from her pocket she walked up to the front door. She unlocked the door and walked in. The front area looked oddly strange. There were jackets and shoes that she didn't recognize at all. She could only wonder who was at her house. She assumed that they were family that she hadn't met just yet. She was always meeting new family members on the holidays. Stacy took the bags after shutting the door and headed into the kitchen. She set the bags on the counter and noticed no one in the kitchen at the moment. Things we're not right. Stacy looked up and noticed that laughter was coming from outside. Curiosity taking over, she walked over to the sliding glass door and looked outside. She instantly became happy as she saw her family interacting with Andrew's family. What a wonderful surprise this was. Her smile widened as Andrew took notice of her at the door. He ran up to her.

"Hey Beautiful!" Andrew smiled picking her up and spinning her.

"What are you doing here?" Stacy beamed.

"Oh, am I not wanted here?" Andrew pouted.

"Yeah you are." Stacy giggled. "I just wasn't expecting it."

"Well, then it wouldn't have been a surprise." Andrew kissed her nose.

"So, me going to the story was a setup?" Stacy questioned.

"Pretty much." Andrew laughed.

"I thought it was strange." Stacy sighed. "I knew we already had a lot of cranberry sauce."

"Was it worth it?" Andrew asked.

"Definitely!" Stacy smirked kissing him.

Andrew finally put Stacy down as their family members began coming back into the kitchen. They all quickly got back on track with the cooking. Not to everyone's surprise, then men all went into the den and had a beer, while the women all stayed in the kitchen and cooked. The only exception would be Andrew and Stacy. They both had snuck out of the kitchen and den and went up to Stacy's bedroom.

"So, why is this the first time I'm seeing your bedroom?" Andrew questioned looking around at everything.

"You never asked to come over." Stacy giggled jumping on her bed.

"Good point." Andrew smiled as he sat down on the bed next to where Stacy was laying.

"I know." Stacy smirked.

"How long have you all been friends?" Andrew questioned again taking notice of a framed picture of the six.

"All of them are different years." Stacy stated scooting closer to Andrew to get a better look at the picture.

"Ok, lets start with Stephanie." Andrew was interested in her friends. "How long have you known each other and how'd you meet?"

"Steph and I have been friends for nine years." Stacy smiled. "We met in the fourth grade. My family had just moved here and I was the new kid in class. Stephanie was really nice and we became friends."

"Stephanie's always been a sweetheart." Andrew spoke. "Ok, what about Trish then?"

"Well, I met Trish through Stephanie. But I didn't meet Trish until the sixth grade. So that would make us friends for seven years." Stacy explained. "I didn't meet her until then because she went to a different school then Steph and I."

"So the three of you are pretty close?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, we're best friends." Stacy beamed looking at the framed pictures. "I'm so thankful for them."

"I bet." Andrew stated. "What about Paul?"

"Paul, wow." Stacy laughed.

"What's so funny?" Andrew looked at her confused.

"The way we met was funny." Stacy smiled. "I've known Paul since the sixth grade as well. Again, making us friends for seven years. I was in the girls' bathroom washing my hands when all of a sudden I see this bare ass in my face."

"Bare ass?" Andrew couldn't help but wonder.

"Chris had just ripped Paul's tack pants right off of him." Stacy laughed hysterically. "Chris ran off with Paul's pants and his boxers went with the pants."

"Wow, that's crazy." Andrew chuckled. "So, I take it you met Chris in the sixth grade too?"

"No, I met Chris in the fourth grade with Steph." Stacy smiled. "Chris and Steph have been friends since they we're born. Its strange, because they just found out they were cousins."

"That is strange." Andrew stated. "So how did you meet Chris then?"

"Well, I met him at recess one day." Stacy continued. "He didn't have the same class as Steph and I. One day Steph was home sick, and I didn't have anyone to play with. Chris came up to me and we just became instant friends."

"You all have such a special bond." Andrew replied. "I don't have that with any of my friends."

"Yeah, I'm pretty lucky." Stacy beamed. "I don't know what I'd do without them."

"What about Randy?" Andrew really didn't want to ask, but he had to know what he was up against.

"Randy and I?" Stacy questioned. "Wow, you could say Randy and I were the outcasts."

"Why?" Andrew asked settling back against the headboard of the bed.

"Well, Paul, Steph, Chris and Trish have all known each other since they were in diapers." Stacy started. "Paul and Trish went to the same elementary school. Chris and Steph went to the same elementary school. Before they all started school, they went to the same daycare program and they have been friends ever since."

"Well, where does Randy come into this?" Andrew replied as Stacy leaned her head on his chest.

"Well, Randy and I actually both came from Baltimore, Maryland." Stacy sighed. "We grew up as next door neighbors. Our parents were best friends, so of course we became best friends. Then, my dad got a job offer here, so we packed up and moved. Randy's father works with my father. A few years later, Randy's dad gets a promotion and gets transferred over here. So they move over here and we've been best friends ever since."

"So you two are pretty close?" Andrew questioned looking off into space.

"Yeah, we were." Stacy sighed. "We used to take baths together when we were little. Then as we got older, well, you know the story."

"Yeah." Andrew couldn't help but think about Stacy and Randy. "You two have a special bond."

"Yeah, we do." Stacy smiled.

"So no matter what happens, you'll always be friends?" Andrew asked.

"The best." Stacy spoke.

Andrew stopped talking for a moment. Everything Stacy said about Randy rang through his head. He couldn't help but see how much he had to live up to. For goodness sakes, she used to take baths with the guy. They've known each other forever, and they've dated. They've even slept together. Andrew couldn't help but think if this relationship would even work. How could he compete with Randy Orton?

"Andrew?" Stacy shook his arm.

"Yeah?" Andrew snapped out of it.

"You don't have anything to worry about." Stacy smiled.

"Huh?" Andrew was a little confused forgetting about the Randy conversation.

"You don't have to worry about Randy and I." Stacy stated. "We're only friends."

"I know." Andrew semi lied. "I trust you."

"Just not him." Stacy giggled. "You can."

"Yeah right." Andrew said sarcastically.

"He met some girl at the store today." Stacy spoke. "I'm sure he picked her up already."

"How do you know?" Andrew questioned realizing what a dumb question it was.

"I'm his best friend. I just know." Stacy smirked. "Plus, she looked like his type."

"That's good for him then." Andrew smiled. "Maybe we should double date."

"Haha, yeah right." Stacy stated getting closer to Andrew's lips. "I'd rather just hang out with you."

"Really?" Andrew raised his eye brows as she got closer.

"Really!" Stacy smirked as she started to kiss him.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie sighed as she laid on the couch. She was extremely bored. This year, Thanksgiving was just going to be the four of the McMahons. Vince, Linda, Shane and Stephanie. She was looking forward to it, but they wouldn't be eating until late. She would have been helping her mother in the kitchen, but her mother wouldn't allow it. Why? Well, lets just say they didn't have such a great dinner last Thanksgiving. Stephanie tried to make dinner herself without any help. She sighed as she remembered last Thanksgiving. She should have asked for help, but she had too much pride. So Linda was cooking while her father was in the office working like always. Steph really didn't want to play video games with her brother either. She sighed as she flipped through the channels. Nothing was on. Stephanie groaned to herself as she grabbed her cell phone from the coffee table. An idea came into her head. She knew how she could pass time. She quickly got off the sofa and ran into the kitchen to her mother.

"Mom?" Stephanie breathed.

"Calm down sweetie." Linda smiled at her daughter. "What do you need?"

"Can I go over to Paul's?" Stephanie practically begged.

"I thought you weren't talking to him?" Linda was confused now.

"Oh, yeah." Stephanie blushed a little. "Uh, that's over with now."

"Really?" Linda looked at her daughter again. "What is it now?"

"Boyfriend." Stephanie smiled biting her bottom lip.

"I don't see a problem with it." Linda spoke. "As long as your back for dinner at 8."

"Thanks mom!" Stephanie turned to leave.

"Ask your father first." Linda shook her head.

"Aw, Mom!" Stephanie sighed. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious." Linda chuckled.

"Fine." Stephanie slowly drug her feet as she left the kitchen area and to her father's den. "Daddy?"

"What do you want?" Vince shook his head knowing his daughter's voice. He knew when she wanted something.

"Why would you think I wanted something?" Stephanie asked sweetly.

"I don't know." Vince said sarcastically. "Its not like you've been my daughter for eighteen years and counting."

"Good point." Stephanie giggled. "Can I go to Paul's house?"

"Why?" Vince questioned looking up at his daughter.

"Because I'm bored." Stephanie smiled. "I promise to be home by dinner."

"I thought you hated him?" Vince asked.

"Daddy, hate is such a strong word." Stephanie spoke. "I just didn't like him very much at the time."

"Well, what changed?" Vince replied.

"He stood on top of the coffee cart at school and told everyone what a jerk he was to me." Stephanie beamed. "And that I deserve better then him and that he was truly sorry."

"So what are you two dating again?" Vince stated.

"Yeah." Stephanie responded with a smile.

"Its about time." Vince chuckled.

"What?" Stephanie looked at her father.

"I was wondering when you two would get back together." Vince said. "You've only truly been happy when you were dating him."

"Well, can I go then?" Stephanie asked again.

"Yeah, go on." Vince shook his head. "Be back by 8."

"I will daddy." Stephanie went up and kissed her father on the cheek. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Vince smiled as he watched his daughter run out the room.

XoX

Paul and Kendal ran into the living room from the kitchen. They sat on the floor quickly and acted as if they were watching the show that was playing on the t.v. which was Dora the Explorer. Patricia, Paul's mom walked into the living room. She eyed her two children strangely. She shrugged it off and left the living room. Paul causally glanced back behind him and noticed his mother had exited the living room. Kendal smiled as she looked at her older brother. Paul smiled down at his baby sister. Paul pretended to wipe sweat from his forehead. Kendal began to mimic her brother by wiping pretend sweat off of her forehead as well. Thanksgiving dinner was always the best at the Levesques' house. Patricia and Lynn would always cook everything but the turkey. Paul Sr. would always cook the turkey. The family always tended to have a small family dinner, and then they would have a large family dinner the following day with the rest of their family members. Paul and Kendal were never allowed in the kitchen because they always ate everything instead of helping to make it. Lynn had finally caught on, when she realized they had made a ton of deviled eggs and only five on the tray. That would lead to why Paul and Kendal were acting as if they didn't do anything. This year, they had made a plan to sneak into the kitchen when Lynn and their mother wasn't looking. It was harder then they thought. Paul then got an idea and told his baby sister what to do. Kendal smirked and nodded her head in agreement. Paul got up and walked into the kitchen.

"When's dinner going to be done?" Paul casually asked as he saw Kendal out the corner of his eye waiting for the signal.

"It will be done when it's ready." Lynn stated looking at her brother. "Now go away."

"But I'm starving." Paul stated. "I haven't eaten all day."

"Oh, whatever." Patricia shook her head. "I made you breakfast this morning."

"That was just a snack." Paul smirked. "I think I'll try some of this potato salad."

"Oh, no you better not!" Patricia said making her way over to where her son was.

Paul had quickly ran over to the bowl of potato salad that was on the counter. He grabbed the bowl and held it over his head. He had his mother beat out in height as well as Lynn. She had gone over to help her mother retrieve the potato salad. They tried tickling him, but it was no use. He wasn't ticklish. Paul turned around, causing Lynn and Patricia to turn their backs to the kitchen entrance. When this happened Kendal ran into the kitchen and to the table. She carefully grabbed the plate of deviled eggs. Quickly, but steady she hurried into her bedroom that was upstairs. Paul turned his head and noticed Kendal had succeeded in her task. He turned around and put the potato salad down.

"You guys are no fun." Paul pouted. "Can't I just have a bite?"

"No, and why'd you give up so easy?" Lynn questioned.

"My arms were tired." Paul frowned. "Just a little bite?"

"NO!" Patricia stated firmly.

"Fine!" Paul stuck out his bottom lip.

"Just get out of the kitchen." Patricia shook her head.

"Why don't you just keep Kendal occupied?" Lynn laughed.

"I just wanted a bite." Paul said turning his back to his mom and sister with a smirk.

"Better luck next year at trying to get the food early." Lynn stated with a smile.

"If you say so." Paul mumbled with the biggest smirk on his face.

Paul left the kitchen and walked upstairs to his sister's room. He opened the door and noticed she had split the deviled eggs evenly. He chuckled to himself as he sat down across from Kendal. They gave each other a high five and began to eat the deviled eggs. It was only a few minutes later when they noticed the door knob twisting open. Both Kendal and Paul looked at each other with wide eyes. They looked down at the plate and noticed they still had a few deviled eggs. Paul quickly pulled the plate behind his back and wiped both their faces clean. Kendal quickly grabbed her Barbie dolls from under her bed and threw one at her brother. They started playing with the dolls right when Lynn opened the door.

"Paul?" Lynn spoke entering the room.

"Yes?" Paul smiled in a girly voice.

"You've got company." Lynn shook her head at the scene and Paul's voice.

"Who's here?" Paul questioned.

"The President." Lynn rolled her eyes.

"Oh really." Paul smirked. "He must have gotten my call of complaint about you and mom not letting us sample the food."

"Oh shut up Paul." Lynn laughed. "It's Stephanie."

"Stephie?" Kendal smiled. "I love Stephie."

"More then me?" Paul eyed his baby sister.

"No." Kendal smiled sweetly putting her hands up in the air.

"Ok." Paul patted his sister's head. "Send her in."

Lynn stepped away from the door and Stephanie was already standing there. Paul couldn't help but smile at her presence. He had missed her randomly showing up at his house. Lynn shook her head at the two love birds and walked back downstairs. Stephanie entered the room but didn't close the door behind her.

"Close the door." Paul stated. "Hurry."

"Why?" Stephanie asked shutting the door.

"Cuz we have deviled eggs." Kendal smiled brightly pulling the plate out from behind Stephanie.

"You stole them didn't you?" Stephanie smirked sitting down by Paul.

"Can we trust her Kendal?" Paul looked from Stephanie to Kendal.

"I don't know." Kendal looked at Stephanie. "What's your price?"

"One deviled egg." Stephanie smirked.

"Ok, Paul give her yours." Kendal smiled.

"What?" Paul smirked. "Why mine?"

"Cuz, Stephie and I voted and you lost." Kendal grinned.

"Pay up Levesque!" Stephanie smirked.

"What if I don't want to share?" Paul raised an eyebrow.

"EW!!" Kendal covered her eyes.

"What's wrong Kendal?" Stephanie blushed at Paul's comment.

"You two are going to kiss!" Kendal spoke hiding her eyes. "Just get it over with."

"Aw, is someone jealous?" Paul smirked grabbing his baby sister.

Paul pulled Kendal in between himself and Stephanie. Kendal peaked through her fingers looking from Paul to Stephanie. She wondered what they were going to do. Kendal squirmed as she felt Paul and Stephanie kissing her cheeks. She giggled as she tried to get away from the two of them. Kendal started laughing and trying to hide her cheeks. As they continued this for a few minutes, they were interrupted by the door opening. They had totally forgot about the plate that had been pulled out from behind Paul. All three of them looked up at the door and noticed Lynn and Patricia standing their watching them.

"What's going on here?" Patricia questioned with a smile.

"Yeah, we heard screaming." Lynn stated taking notice of the scene in front of her.

"They started it!" Kendal smiled pointing at Paul and Stephanie.

"Way to rat us out Kendal." Paul chuckled.

"What is that?" Patricia asked eyeing the plate.

"Uh.." Paul and Kendal said at the same time.

"Mom, that's the plate the deviled eggs were on!" Lynn shrieked. "There are still a few left on the plate."

"I knew I had made some." Patricia shook her head. "You two couldn't wait could you?"

"Mommy.." Kendal gave her the puppy dog eyes. "I swear to you, I had nothing to do with it."

"Oh, come on." Paul smirked. "She so stole that line from me."

"It was all Paul." Kendal stuck her bottom lip out. "I didn't do anything, he brought them in here. I told him to give them back."

"Is that so?" Patricia questioned knowing Kendal was playing her. "Come on, I think you deserve a treat for that."

"Ok mommy." Kendal smiled as Patricia picker her up.

Patricia turned around while holding Kendal in her arms. Kendal gave Paul his signature smirk along with a wink. She then rubbed her hands together like she had just won the grand prize. After that she waved goodbye to her brother. Lynn watched the look that the two gave each other. She shook her head. It always made her smile at how her youngest sister and brother could be so much a like. She always thought it was cute how Kendal would turn on Paul so quickly. Stephanie couldn't help but giggle at the scene that had just taken place. Lynn shook her head once more and grabbed the plate. She then followed her mother and sister down the stairs.

"Are you serious?" Paul sighed. "Traitor."

"She so played you." Stephanie laughed.

"We'll see if we work together again." Paul chuckled standing up and helping Stephanie up as well.

"You know you'll work with her again." Stephanie smiled.

"I know." Paul smirked taking Stephanie into his bedroom. "She just has this spell on me."

"I know what you mean." Stephanie stated watching Paul go lay on his bed.

"Yeah." Paul replied looking at Stephanie closing the door. "So, what brings you by?"

"Well…" Stephanie smirked locking his door unnoticed to him. "You owe me something."

"Oh really…" Paul eyed her up and down. "And what is it that I owe you?"

"I never got that deviled egg." Stephanie answered crawling onto the bed with him.

"So how can I make it up to you?" Paul asked pulling Stephanie closer to him.

"I think you know." Stephanie grinned as she leaned in for a kiss.

"When do you have to be back?" Paul questioned.

"By 8 tonight." Stephanie smirked looking at the clock that read 11:30a.m.

"Looks like we've got a lot of time." Paul stated kissing her again.

"We don't want to waste anymore time now do we?" Stephanie smiled her eyes sparkling.

"What do you mean?" Paul asked wondering what she really meant.

"I love you." Stephanie replied kissing him. "I want you."

"Are you sure?" Paul answered in question.

"I've never been so sure in my life." Stephanie spoke in a whisper.

"My parents are right downstairs." Paul stated with sincere eyes.

"If you don't want to.." Stephanie was cut off.

"No, I want to." Paul smiled at her giving her a kiss. "I just want you to be comfortable."

"I can be quiet." Stephanie spoke as she returned the kiss.

"We'll see about that." Paul grinned as he kissed her passionately which ended their conversation.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish pulled up on the side of the street. She parked the car and looked out the window to across the street. Her heart continued to break as she looked at the house in front of her. She was outside Chris' house. Why was she there? She had to talk to him. Trish had to tell him her side and how everything really was. She understood that Chris would need his time to heal, and that it had only been two days since she had told him about everything. He was still her best friend and she had to tell him. She owed him that much. She missed him already so much. She sighed as she got out of her car. She casually walked across the street. Trish walked up the path to his front door. Once she reached the front door, she didn't even think twice about knocking. She knocked and waited. There was no answer. She knocked again. She had hoped that he was home. She knew they were staying home for Thanksgiving, because she used to be invited to join them. Her invitation was no longer there. She sighed as she knocked a fourth time still getting no answer. Trish bit her bottom lip and turned to walk away. She stopped as she heard the door handle unlock and twist. Her heart sped up as she turned around slowly. The door was still shut when she turned around. She watched as the door slowly opened. There he was. Chris stood there at the door only clad in a towel. Trish couldn't help but let her mind wander to the what could have been as she eyed his chiseled body dripping with water. She looked up at his face. The once sincere and loving look he had for her was now replaced with a disgustful and hateful look. If looks could kill, Trish would be dead right about now. Trish was unsure of what exactly to say. She had forgotten why she had come over. Chris started to shut the door when she remembered.

"Chris…" Trish begged. "Please just give me a chance to explain things to you."

"Not much to explain Trish." Chris rolled his eyes. "Its clear what happened."

"Please…" Trish spoke as tears began to form.

Chris looked at Trish. It was still hard for him to even look at her. Every time he saw her, he felt sick to his stomach and thought of Brock and her. He did want to know answers though. He contemplated on actually letting her in. Chris looked at Trish as she pleaded with her eyes. As much as it still hurt him to be near her, he owed it to her to explain. They were best friends before all of this and he planned on staying her friend in the end. He owed it to himself to let her explain. He stepped aside and let her in the house. Once she was inside he shut the door.

"Give me a minute." Chris spoke with no emotion as he headed upstairs.

Trish watched as he walked upstairs. She assumed that he was going to change. For the first time ever in her life she felt like a stranger in his house. His family had always accepted her into their family like their own. Trish wasn't sure what to do. She would usually go and sit down in the living room or whatever. She felt out of place and wasn't sure what the right thing to do was. As she looked around, she noticed a note on the front door. Chris' family and sister went out to do some last minute shopping. Chris and her were alone in the house. At least she would be able to tell him without any interruptions. She bit her bottom lip as Chris came back downstairs fully dressed. He still wore the same expression that he had at the front door. He walked into the living room and sat down in the arm chair. Trish wasn't sure where to sit or if she should sit. She hadn't thought this out fully. She just knew she had to talk to him.

_It doesn't matter  
That you had the courage to tell me  
The easy way out  
Was to free up your guilt, laid it on me_

"Well?" Chris stated looking at Trish who was standing. "Talk."

"I'm not sure where to start." Trish began. "I guess, I was unsure of how you felt about us, about me. I tried so hard to get your attention. I practically threw myself at you. What did I get in return? You continuously ditched me and made up excuses not to be alone with me. You kept lying to me, and I knew you were lying."

"Are you here to blame this on me?" Chris questioned with anger. "I'm not the one that slept with the first person that came to my front door."

"I was selfish." Trish started again. "I should have taken your feelings into thought. It never occurred to me that you wouldn't be ready to take things that far. I just assumed that you were ready because you're a guy. The way you kept avoiding me made me feel like you didn't love me anymore. Brock came by and I couldn't control myself. I just wanted to feel wanted. I thought you didn't want me. But you have to give me some credit here Chris."

"Oh really, and what's that?" Chris asked. "The Golden Trophy for sleeping around."

"I told you the truth!" Trish cried. "I didn't hide it from you."

Chris looked at her like she was serious. The way she was sounding made him think she just wanted him to forgive and forget. He couldn't do that. Yeah, she told him the truth. That he was grateful for. She just didn't seem to understand the hurt he was feeling. Chris looked at Trish again. She looked a little bit better then before. Trish looked like a huge bolder had been lifted from her shoulders. Chris rolled his eyes. Of course she'd feel that way once she laid all the guilt on him.

_What do I care?  
If it didn't really mean a thing why'd you do it?  
I'm standing here  
Looking at someone who doesn't  
Know they blew it, yeah_

"Yeah, you told me the truth." Chris replied. "I'm thankful for that."

"Then what's the problem?" Trish asked realizing what a dumb question it was.

"Are you serious?" Chris questioned in shock. "You cheated on me Trish."

"Chris, you have to believe me." Trish stated as she was now in front of him on her knees. "It meant nothing."

"It meant nothing?" Chris asked as he looked into her eyes.

"Nothing." Trish spoke not breaking the eye contact.

"Why'd you do it then?" Chris answered.

"What?" Trish shook her head.

"If it meant nothing…" Chris started. "Why'd you do it?"

"Chris…" Trish began but was cut off.

"Don't Chris me." Chris shook his head standing up and moving away from her.

Chris breathed in a deep breath as he shut his eyes. His back was towards Trish at the moment. He waited for her to answer the question. He waited for her to continue to talk after he cut her off. The question was still unanswered as he waited. Trish bit her bottom lip searching her mind for an answer. She could feel him pushing her further and further away as each sentence they spoke was pulling them apart. She knew he was waiting for an answer. She told him that she slept with Brock because she wanted to feel wanted. Trish knew deep down inside that wasn't going to be enough for Chris. They had been best friends for years. He had probably guessed that she would have at least talked to him.

"Why'd you do it?" Chris questioned again.

"I thought you didn't love me anymore." Trish whispered.

"And you couldn't talk to me about it?" Chris spoke finally turning around tears on his cheeks.

"And you couldn't talk to me?" Trish fired back. "You could have told me you weren't ready."

Chris' eyes immediately went to Trish. He could see she was confused now as well. She was right though. He could have talked to her about it, but he didn't. Why hadn't he? He wasn't exactly sure, but he never thought that it would push Trish to cheat on him. He broke the eye contact that they once shared. He looked away from her still feeling pain when he looked at her. Chris turned and looked out the window and then back to Trish. He looked her up and down. He shook his head as he looked at her. Yeah, he may not have talked to her, but she didn't have to cheat. She made that choice on her own. Hell, Trish could have just forced it out of him if she really wanted to. They were both in the wrong with that one. Chris just couldn't get it out of his mind that she cheated. He respected her for coming clean with him. He looked down shaking his head again. Chris didn't know how to tell her she blew their relationship.

_You should have lied  
Cause' your stupid mistake  
Made my world crash down  
Now its goodbye  
No you can't take it back  
Once the truth has come out of your mouth  
So you tried to be honest  
But honesty blew it this time  
You should have lied_

"Chris, I'm so sorry." Trish cried as she walked up to him. "It never meant anything."

"I think its time for you to go Trish." Chris stated walking away from her and to the door.

"Didn't anything I said mean anything?" Trish asked tears running down her face matching his.

"I appreciate you being honest with me Trish." Chris replied. "I really do."

"We can make this work." Trish begged.

"Its over." Chris stated. "You blew it and its time for you to leave."

"Chris…" Trish failed to continue.

"You don't get it Trish, do you?" Chris looked at her as anger and hurt filled him again. "I gave you my all. I gave you everything that I could. I would have taken a bullet for you. You were my entire world Trish. You, it was always about you. I never even looked at another girl. Yeah, I was wrong in not telling you I wasn't ready. But come on Trish, lets get real. We're best friends, and we should have been able to talk to each other. Yet, you go and cheat on me. Don't even get me started on with who. Of all the people you could have cheated on me with, it was Brock. Brock of all people. We've had this problem already, and I thought we were past Brock. I really did. When you told me you cheated on me, my entire world crashed down. I fell apart. You broke my entire world and I can't forgive you for that right now. Maybe later down the line, but not now."

Trish stood there crying at every word that Chris had spoken. She finally understood how he felt. Her heart broke as he said each and everyone of those words. They both stood there staring at each other. Chris and Trish both had matching tears and frowns on their faces. She never meant to hurt him. Trish slowly turned around and looked at the door. She put her hand on the door knob and opened the door. She shut her eyes, hoping he'd stop her from leaving. She walked out the door and shut the door behind her. More tears fell down her face as she leaned against the door. Little did she know, he was on the opposite side of the door doing the exact same thing. Chris was leaning against the door as a few tears rolled down his face. He had never cried over anything before in his life. It seemed like Trish was a first for everything.

"I'm so sorry Chris." Trish cried to herself against the door.

"You should have lied." Chris barely whispered out against the door.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I know its pretty long, but I felt like it was all needed for this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think.

Citcat


	37. Love, Passion, & Fury

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 37: Love, Passion, and Fury

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Thanksgiving seemed to go off without a hitch. Everyone had their rightful dinners and so forth. Andrew and Stacy had a great Thanksgiving, and it brought them closer together. Andrew's older sister loved Stacy so much, that she asked her to be in her wedding this coming up February. Stephanie had a nice family dinner with her family. The day after Thanksgiving she had gone with Paul to his family's large dinner party. Speaking of Paul, his Thanksgiving dinner went really well too. Kendal and Paul had reformed to steal extra desert, but it didn't happen. Candice had actually gone to Randy's house for Thanksgiving. It was just her though. Randy was happy that she had shown up. He had noticed her t.v. dinners, and he couldn't let her have a t.v. dinner on Thanksgiving. Candice and Randy had hit it off great and had decided to date in the small amount of time that they knew each other. Chris had a good Thanksgiving dinner, nothing special though. He honestly couldn't get the whole Trish thing off of his mind. Trish didn't have such a wonderful Thanksgiving. She could barely eat, because of what she had done. Spending time with her family was always nice though. They unknowingly took her mind off of Chris for the most part.

It was now December first. Over the Thanksgiving break, all six of them had filled out college applications to the colleges of their choice. They wouldn't find out where they got accepted until the beginning of March. They all applied to many different colleges, some the same and some different. It was best to get them all done and out of the way now, then to wait forever. Thanksgiving was over, and now it was the season of winter. Winter season, meant Christmas time. Christmas was the best time of the year for all six of the friends. It wasn't so much about getting gifts or anything, but sharing and giving to the needy. Christmas always brought out the best in everyone and made them a bit happier. It would be safe to say that Christmas was their favorite holiday. It was around lunch time at Greenwich High and everyone was pretty much doing their own thing.

XoX

Stephanie smiled to herself as she walked around the halls with a Christmas hat on. She knew it was only the first, but she always got into the spirit way too early. Steph didn't care though. She liked standing out and being different. Her, now red ipod was playing Christmas music. She was currently listening to "Where Are You Christmas" by Faith Hill. She hummed to the song as she continued to walk down the hall. She smiled as she saw her friend Randy making his way around the corner.

"Hey Orton!" Stephanie smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great." Randy looked at his friend. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, I feel perfectly fine." Stephanie beamed. "Why?"

"You do know that Christmas isn't for another twenty four days?" Randy chuckled.

"I know." Stephanie replied. "Can't a girl be in the Christmas spirit?"

"It's fine with me." Randy laughed. "What are you doing anyways?"

"I'm searching for that guy friend of yours." Stephanie smirked. "The one with the nose."

"The nose?" Randy smirked holding in his laugh as he took notice of Paul standing behind Stephanie.

"Yeah, the one with the nose." Stephanie giggled. "It's out to here."

"It's not that big." Randy tried to secretly help his friend out. "Seriously."

"Randy, have you seen the thing?" Stephanie shook her head. "Its amazing I can find his lips."

"Steph…" Randy began to laugh at the look on Paul's face who was still standing behind Stephanie.

"Maybe I can get him a nose job for Christmas." Stephanie thought aloud.

"Steph, stop…" Randy laughed.

"What?" Stephanie asked now taking notice of the feeling that someone was behind her. "He's behind me isn't he?"

"I'll see you two around later." Randy shook his head getting away from the two.

Stephanie shut her eyes as her cheeks turned a deep shade of pink. She took a deep breath and put on her best smile. Steph slowly turned around batting her eyelashes as she came face to face with her boyfriend. Paul wore a look of amusement on his face. He waited for her little explanation.

"Hey honey." Stephanie smiled innocently. "I was just looking for you."

"Really?" Paul asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I was." Stephanie couldn't help but giggle. "I missed you."

"You missed me?" Paul questioned again messing with her.

"Yeah, I did." Stephanie beamed as she went in for a kiss but her lips met his cheek.

"Sorry, didn't want my nose to get in the way." Paul smirked.

"Oh, you heard that?" Stephanie batted her eyelashes some more. "I, uh…"

"You wanted to get me a nose job." Paul shook his head. "That's fine."

"Hey, where are you going?" Stephanie asked as she watched Paul begin to walk off.

Paul didn't answer Stephanie. He walked away with a smile on his face. He knew she'd follow him. He just had to mess around with her today. Paul looked back behind him and sure enough she was following him. A smirk crept onto his face as he turned a corner. He casually walked down the hall until he came to a door. Stephanie watched as Paul kept walking. She tried calling his name, but he wouldn't answer her. She was afraid that she had upset him. She had to make sure, that he knew she was joking. She watched him as he turned the door knob to a room. As she walked up to the door, she noticed he was in the storage closet. The closets were usually open to everyone during the day. It held a lot of arts and supplies. The room was small and compact with a tiny light bulb. It wasn't that bright in the room. Stephanie wondered why he went in there. She shook it off as she looked to her left and right to make sure no one was watching her. When the coast was clear she opened the door. Stephanie was immediately pulled into the room and the door shut. Once the door was shut, she was gently pushed up against the door as Paul kissed her. When she realized he wasn't mad she hit him.

"Ow…" Paul rubbed his arm. "What was that for?"

"You made me think you were mad at me." Stephanie stated crossing her arms.

"Aw, come on." Paul smirked as he leaned in to her neck as he kissed it.

"No, stop." Stephanie tried to hide her smile as she tried to push him away. Two could play at this game.

"Stephie." Paul said in between kisses to her neck. "You hurt my feelings though."

"No I didn't." Stephanie stated trying not to give in.

"Yeah you did." Paul smirked feeling her give in. "You said my nose was huge."

"Oh, and how do I ever make it up to you?" Stephanie asked caving in.

"I think you know." Paul replied kissing her lips pressing up against her.

"Paul…" Stephanie giggled in between kisses. "We're in school."

"So…" Paul basically ignored what she had said. "No one else is in here."

"What if someone walks in?" Stephanie questioned as she allowed him access to her neck.

"Steph, seriously?" Paul pulled away from her. "How often do people actually come into these closets?"

"Not often." Stephanie blushed.

"It's up to you?" Paul responded looking a Steph in the barely lit room.

"I don't know what it is you have over me." Stephanie smirked as she pulled him to her.

"I thought you'd see it my way." Paul smiled as he kissed her.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy smiled as she walked into the student lounge. She felt relaxed from her four day weekend. She looked around the lounge and didn't see any of her friends. Stacy figured she'd just read a magazine. She started walking over to the couch when she noticed someone already sitting there. Stacy smiled as she realized who it was. Slowly Stacy went up and sat next to her.

"Hi, I'm Stacy." Stacy spoke introducing herself.

"Hi, I'm Candice." Candice smiled back at Stacy.

"It's nice to meet you." Stacy replied.

"I'm sorry, but have we met before?" Candice couldn't help but notice how familiar she looked.

"Well, I've seen you before…" Stacy started. "But you haven't seen me."

"Where did you see me at?" Candice questioned.

"I saw you at the store on Thanksgiving." Stacy replied. "You were talking to my best friend."

"Randy?" Candice wondered aloud.

"Yeah, Randy." Stacy answered.

"Ok, now I remember." Candice responded. "I saw a picture of you in his room."

"Randy's a great guy." Stacy spoke. "You'll love him."

"I think I already do." Candice blushed.

"What?" Stacy looked at her new found friend. "You two are dating already?"

"Yeah we are." Candice beamed. "We hit it off great."

"Wow, I didn't even know." Stacy shook her head in approval. "I knew he'd pick you up, but I didn't know you two would actually start dating."

"Yeah, is that a good thing?" Candice asked.

"Oh, yeah it's a good thing." Stacy reassured her. "He's a great guy."

"He seems like it." Candice replied.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Candice." Stacy stood up. "We should hang out sometime."

"That would be great." Candice smiled.

"Here's my number." Stacy said handing her a card.

"Is this your real number?" Candice questioned looking at the card.

"Yeah it is." Stacy laughed. "I have it on numerous cards, because I hate taking the time to get a pen and paper."

"Oh, right." Candice laughed.

"See ya." Stacy smiled back leaving the lounge.

Candice smiled at her new found friend. She thought that she wouldn't make any friends. She was thankful that wouldn't be the case. Stacy seemed like a nice enough person, and she seemed to know everyone. Candice was sure she'd make friends. She sighed to herself as she went back to her magazine. As she was about to read an article she looked next to her to find another person sitting next to her.

"Don't trust her." A woman said bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Candice was now confused.

"They are more then just best friends." She spoke

"What are you talking about?" Candice asked. "I don't even know you."

"You may not know me…" She started. "But that doesn't mean you can't trust me."

"Randy told me they were just friends." Candice replied.

"I'm sure he forgot to tell you they dated." She informed Candice.

"They dated?" Candice questioned thinking of the stunning blonde.

"They slept together too." She replied. "They are more then just friends."

"Wow…" Candice looked down at the card in her hand. "She was really nice though."

"That's what she does." She smirked. "She'll make you think that you two are friends, and then she'll pull the friendship card when it comes down to it."

"What do you mean?" Candice asked the girl that she still didn't even know her name.

"She wants Randy all to herself." She answered. "She'll do anything to make sure it stays that way."

"Stacy doesn't seem that cold hearted." Candice stated.

"You sound like you are trying to convince yourself now." She laughed.

"Randy said that Stacy had a boyfriend though." Candice spoke again.

"She wants her cake and she wants to eat it too." She answered. "Trust me, I know."

"How do you know?" Candice asked.

"She faked a pregnancy to keep him from dating someone." She replied.

"Stacy really did that?" Candice didn't know why, but she believed this girl.

"Yeah, she did." She continued. "Why else would a guy like Randy Orton still be up for grabs."

"I don't know…" Candice trailed off.

"Trust me." She stated as the woman stood up and left the area.

Candice sat there thinking to herself. She always knew not to judge people until she got to know them, but this woman seemed to know so many details. Candice thought Stacy was genuinely nice person just from meeting her and the way Randy talked about her. She also thought that Stacy was beautiful. It as almost as if she was perfect. Stacy had a lot to offer. A lot more then what she could offer to Randy. Was she kidding herself? Would this actually be able to work? Could she live up to Stacy Keibler?

XoX

Randy headed down the hall with a purpose. Well not really. He was just on his way to grab something. He walked down the halls and around corners. He had a quick pace going before he quickly turned a corner and next thing he knew, he was flat on his ass. He looked across from himself to see what he had bumped into. There he saw Stacy laying flat on her ass as well. They both looked at each other and started to laugh. Randy stood up and then helped Stacy up. They both dusted off their clothes.

"Sorry." Randy stated with a small laugh.

"It's not a problem." Stacy smiled.

"Are you sure?" Randy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stacy spoke. "But why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Randy asked.

"That you have a girlfriend." Stacy smirked. "She's pretty."

"You met her?" Randy questioned.

"Yeah, in the lounge." Stacy shook her head. "Well, why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to." Randy replied. "I just haven't had the chance to yet.  
"Oh, ok." Stacy giggled. "I'll let that one slide."

"Thanks." Randy smiled. "Where are you heading?"

"That way." Stacy spoke pointing down the hall.

"Me too." Randy stated. "Walk with ya?"

"Sure, I guess." Stacy answered as they both walked down the hall.

Stacy and Randy walked down the hall to where they were heading. They talked about their weekends as they continued down the hall. Once they made it to their destination they stopped outside the door. Randy and Stacy looked at each other oddly. Something wasn't right. They didn't know what, but something was going on. They shared a strange look with each other, before they began to talk.

"What do you need from here anyway?" Stacy asked looking at Randy.

"I need some paint for my next class." Randy answered. "What do you need?"

"A poster board." Stacy replied. "Do you hear that?"

"Yeah I do." Randy responded. "I thought I was the only one hearing it."

"What is it?" Stacy questioned as she looked at the closet.

"I don't know." Randy started. "But it's coming from in there."

"Well, open it." Stacy pushed Randy towards the door.

"Why do I have to open it?" Randy asked.

"Because I said so." Stacy smiled. "I don't want to die first."

"Oh thanks." Randy rolled his eyes with a smile.

"No problem." Stacy stated. "Now open it."

Randy looked at Stacy once more before he put his hand on the door handle. He wasn't sure what was in the closet. It wasn't that he was scared, it was just the fact that he didn't know what was on the other side of the door. Stacy watched as Randy began to turn the knob. Taking a deep breath, Randy ripped the door open to get it over with. Randy and Stacy stood in front of the door with their mouths wide open. You could say their jaws hit the floor at the sight they had just witnessed. Paul and Stephanie were shirtless, and Steph's skirt was hiked up. They were in the middle of something that Randy and Stacy never wanted to see. Paul felt a draft of air as he stopped and looked up. Stephanie taking notice of Paul's actions, she looked too. Paul and Stephanie looked out the door, at Randy and Stacy. They were both red in the face and their mouths the same way. Paul and Steph were in a very awkward position at the moment. They stood their for a minute or two, until reality struck Randy, and he shut the door. Randy and Stacy looked at each other, still wide eyed and speechless. After a minute, they both began to laugh as they ran down the hall together.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish sat at a lunch table by herself. She was trying to eat something. She hadn't been able to eat in a while. Trish knew she had to eat something. Though, she couldn't force herself to eat, she could try to get something in her system. She hadn't seen or heard from Chris the entire weekend. Even though she knew that was going to be the case, she wished she was wrong. Her friends hadn't even heard from him. She had told them that she had gone over to his place to explain everything to him. They were their to comfort her as best as they could. Nothing worked though. She looked up and glanced around the cafeteria. Her eyes quickly landed on Chris. He was just now sitting down at a table with a tray of food. Trish thought about going over to him. She stopped herself from following through with it though. She looked down at her tray. If she couldn't be near him, she'd have to settle for being in the same room as him at the same time.

XoX

Chris sat down at a table alone. Today wasn't going that great. He had Trish in most of his classes, so he had skipped them. Unfortunately to him, he got caught skipping. That meant he had detention. He didn't care at the moment. It was better then going back home and sulking. He was still hurting. It didn't help that he was going to the same school as Trish and Brock. He was lucky that he hadn't seen Brock at all today. He honestly didn't know what he would do if he had seen Brock. Chris looked up as he felt eyes on him. He looked around the room and didn't notice anything. That was until he looked over to the entrance of the cafeteria. It was just his luck. Here came Brock walking in like he owned the place. He remember when Brock was the new guy and knew nothing. It seemed like now, Brock was the king of everything. Chris rolled his eyes as he realized Brock was approaching him.

"Hey Jericho." Brock smirked sitting down next to him.

"Get away from me." Chris stated trying to keep his anger under control.

"What's wrong?" Brock asked knowing full well.

"Lesnar, leave now if you know what's best for you." Chris replied anger building up.

"I thought we were friends." Brock spoke patting Chris' back.

Chris didn't respond to Brock's last statement. The longer that Brock was sitting next to him and talking to him, Chris continued to think of what took place with Brock and Trish. His heart began to race as anger filled him quickly as he continued to think of the two. He asked him to leave twice, but he wasn't listening. Now Brock was asking for it. Chris was at the point to where he couldn't control his temper anymore.

"Wait, I know what's wrong." Brock smirked. "You're upset because I screwed your little girlfriend."

That was the last straw. Once Chris heard those last few words he went off the wall. He turned to his right and threw a full right hand punch into Brock's face. Brock fell back in the chair and landed on the ground. Chris lunged at Brock and began pounding his face in. Chris was like a man possessed while punching Brock in the face. Brock tried to cover his face, but he couldn't fight Chris off. Chris had really lost his mind. A large crowd had formed around the two fighting.

Trish noticed the crowd and wondered what could be going on. She never saw Brock enter the room so she wasn't sure. She stood up throwing her leftovers away and made her way towards the crowd. She managed to shove her way into the group. Finally she was in the very front of the group. Trish's eyes widen as she noticed the fight before her. She covered her mouth as tears began to form in her eyes. She didn't know what to do. She watched as Chris continued to hit Brock in the face and draw blood. Before Trish could make up her mind, a few teachers broke up the fight. Two teachers had to hold Chris back as he tried to lunge at Brock again. Brock had finally sat up on the ground holding his nose. His nose bled all over the place. Trish looked over at Chris with shocked eyes. She couldn't believe that Chris could be that violent. Chris was drenched in Brock's blood. It was all over his shirt and hands. As Trish looked at him, she noticed that he had tears in his eyes again. Chris was still very angry and didn't even notice Trish looking at him. He was glaring daggers at Brock.

"You stay the hell away from her!" Chris yelled.

As Chris yelled that, he felt the teachers loosen their grip on him by accident. Chris took this as his chance to attack again. He jumped on top of Brock again and started punching him in the face again. Chris drew more blood from Brock's face. Brock tried to defend himself, but it was no use. He couldn't go up against Chris. He had lost his mind. The teachers finally gained control of Chris again. They pulled him off of Brock for the second time. Chris seethed as his eyes had the intensity of fire in them. As if Chris had split personalities, his mood changed. His face was now filled with sadness and hurt. Tears filled his eyes, but only a few dropped.

"Stay away from her!" Chris shouted. "Stay away from her!"

Trish bit her lip. She didn't realize how much damage she had done. She could only wonder what had ticked him off. Had Brock said anything? He must have. Chris wasn't the one to flip out this way. She had let her own tears slip down from her eyes. She watched as the teachers took Chris out of the cafeteria slowly dragging him. Chris was putting up a fight to run back, but he failed. He noticed that Brock had sat up again. Brock and Chris had locked eye contact. Chris became sick to his stomach, but he had to make Brock know that he was wrong in what he did.

"She was mine!" Chris cried out. "She was mine!"

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Review please.


	38. Lending A Helping Hand

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 38: Lending A Helpful Hand

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Candice sighed to herself as the bell rang signaling the end of school. She slowly got up and put her books away. Her face wore a frown at the sight of people making plans with their friends. She hadn't met anyone just yet but Stacy and the other girl, whom she didn't know the name of. She felt like an outcast. Candice felt like she didn't fit in with anyone here. She breathed in and out and then headed out of the classroom. To her surprise she was met by a smiling Randy standing outside her classroom door.

"Hey cutie." Randy smirked. "How was your day?"

"It was ok." Candice spoke as they started to walk out of the school building. "What about yours?"

"It was good." Randy laughed. "With the exception of finding two of my best friends in the supply closet."

"What's so funny about that?" Candice asked curiously.

"Let's just say…" Randy chuckled. "It was something Stacy and I never wanted to walk in on."

"Oh." Candice giggled at little bit. "When did this happen?"

"During lunch." Randy shook his head. "I didn't even know those two were like that."

"Stacy was with you?" Candice questioned a hint of jealousy in her tone as she thought of what the girl had told her at lunch.

"Yeah, we were both heading that way." Randy shook his head as he remembered the looks on his friends' faces.

"Oh…" Candice trailed off thinking that maybe the girl was right.

"Why so down?" Randy asked his girlfriend.

"Oh, its nothing." Candice faked a smile. "Just haven't met much people yet."

"Well, we can fix that." Randy stated pulling Candice into a hug. "I'll introduce you to my crazy friends."

"Will they like me?" Candice wondered aloud.

"Of course they will." Randy smiled. "If Stacy liked you, then you are good to go."

"Stacy, right." Candice couldn't help but feel like it was more to that.

"Though, I'm not sure who you should meet first." Randy thought. "Things haven't been so good for some of them."

"They are all having problems?" Candice asked.

"No, just two of them." Randy replied. "I'll introduce you to Paul and Stephanie first."

"Ok." Candice felt a little bit more at ease knowing she'd be gaining some more friends.

"Though, we may have to call first." Randy chuckled.

"Why?" Candice began to think. "Wait, are they the ones that were in the supply closet?"

"That would be correct." Randy responded. "We wouldn't want you to walk in on them now."

"I guess we should wait to meet them later." Candice smirked at the scene in front of them.

"What do you mean?" Randy questioned.

"Well, if I remember correctly." Candice started. "Those two up their by the tree are Paul and Stephanie. I remember them from a picture in your room."

Randy looked up and over to the tree. Randy and Candice had already walked out the building during this conversation. Taking notice of his two friends he was assuming that Candice would be right about meeting them later. Paul had Stephanie pushed up against a tree as they kissed one another passionately. Randy shook his head at his two friends.

"I'm guessing he got lucky over the break." Randy smirked.

"What makes you say that?" Candice asked.

"They are all over each other." Randy stated. "You can just tell."

"I guess so." Candice shook it off. "So, I think I'm going to head home now."

"No, I want you to meet them first." Randy replied taking her hand and leading her over to them.

"Randy, lets not." Candice bit her lip. "I don't want to interrupt them."

"They are out in public." Randy laughed. "I'm sure they'd love to see me again of all people."

"Randy, you are so evil." Candice giggled.

"I know." Randy smirked as he walked up to Paul and Stephanie. "Hey love birds."

"Oh, uh, Hey Randy." Paul stated pulling himself away from Stephanie.

"Hi." Stephanie blushed.

"You know, things like that get you caught." Randy smirked.

"Shut it Orton." Stephanie and Paul spoke at the same time.

"Ok, touchy subject." Randy smirked. "Well, I want you to meet someone."

"Ok, well introduce us." Stephanie replied.

"Paul, Steph, this is my girlfriend Candice." Randy responded. "She just moved here, and she doesn't know very many people."

"Hi Candice, I'm Stephanie." Stephanie smirked. "And this is my loser boyfriend Paul."

"Hey?!" Paul looked at Stephanie with pretend hurt eyes.

"It's nice to meet you two." Candice tried not to laugh.

"Oh, and if you ever forget Paul's name." Stephanie giggled. "Just think of the guy with the nose."

"That's it." Paul pouted crossing his arms and walking away from them.

"Oh, come on Paul, you know I'm joking." Stephanie laughed. "Randy, give her my number. Call me sometime Candice, we should hang out."

With that said Stephanie left Randy and Candice. She chased after Paul who was already quite a bit ahead of her already. Candice and Randy looked at each other with a small smile. They knew what was going to happen next between the two. Randy pulled out his cell phone so he could give Candice Stephanie's number.

"Get your cell phone out and I'll give you her number." Randy said getting Steph's name on his contact list.

"I left my phone at home." Candice said quickly as she pulled out a card from her purse. "Just write it on this."

"Ok." Randy looked at the card. "Stacy is still using the business card thing."

"Yeah, I guess." Candice spoke.

"Here ya go." Randy smiled. "So, can I give you a ride home?"  
"No, I'm actually not going straight home." Candice lied.

"Well, I can take you to where ever." Randy answered. "It's not a problem."

"I have to stay after school." Candice thought quickly. "I have to get caught up with everything that I wasn't here for."

"You just said you had to head home though." Randy looked at Candice oddly.

"I forgot about school." Candice looked at Randy. "I'll call you later."

"Yeah, sure." Randy stated as he watched Candice go back into the school building.

Candice hurried into the school building. She hated lying to Randy. He was so sweet and kind to her. A frown came across her face as she looked out the window and noticed Randy still standing in the same spot. Her heart went out to him. He was trying really hard here and she wouldn't let him in. She couldn't let him in. She knew he'd leave her if he knew the truth.

XoxoxoxoX

"Paul, you know I was kidding." Stephanie replied still chasing after Paul.

"I was kidding too." Paul smirked as he turned around as Stephanie ran right into him.

"What do you mean?" Stephanie asked as she felt his arms wrap around her.

"I'm not mad." Paul eyed his brunette beauty. "I just wanted you to myself."

"You're horrible, you know that." Stephanie shook her head. "Our friends are going to think we just disappeared off the face of the Earth."

"That's fine with me." Paul smiled as he leaned in and kissed her.

"It's not ok with me." Stephanie began to think about it.

"Steph, it's ok." Paul tried to convince her. "Randy is spending most his time with Candice, Stacy with Andrew…"

"What about Chris and Trish?" Stephanie folded her arms.

"Well, Chris needs time to heal and think." Paul thought on his toes. "Trish, she needs…"

"See, no answer." Stephanie thought about Trish. "She probably could use a friend right about now."

"Has she called anyone of us?" Paul questioned.

"That doesn't matter." Stephanie looked at him. "We should just know."

"Uh, fine." Paul rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just invite her to hang out with us."

"Fine, I will." Stephanie rolled her eyes as well as she turned her back on Paul pulling out her cell phone.

Paul watched as his girlfriend dialed a number in her phone. He sighed to himself. He knew he was being greedy in wanting Stephanie all to himself, but he couldn't help it. She drove him nuts with every little thing she did. It wasn't that he didn't want his friends around, it was just drama free without them. He stood there watching Stephanie as she started talking on the phone.

"Hey Trish." Stephanie smiled into the phone.

"Hi Steph." Trish sniffled.

"Are you crying again?" Stephanie questioned.

"No, I'm not." Trish lied.

"Yes you are." Stephanie sighed. "Where are you?"

"I'm at home." Trish replied sadly.

"How so?" Stephanie asked. "School just got out five minutes ago."

"I left early." Trish cried.

"Why?" Stephanie wondered.

"I just did." Trish stated.

"Well, Paul and I are coming to get you." Stephanie replied. "You are hanging out with us today."

"I don't feel like doing anything." Trish spoke into the phone.

"Well, you have to do something." Stephanie stated. "I wont let you sulk around all day."

"Fine, whatever." Trish answered.

"We'll be there in a few." Stephanie smiled. "Bye."

"Bye." Trish said hanging up the phone.

Stephanie hung up her phone and looked over at Paul. He seemed to be in a trance. She rolled her eyes as she noticed his eyes were fixated on her the entire time. Steph waved a hand in front of his face, but his eyes remained where they were. She shrugged her shoulders and started walking away. Paul immediately took notice of this and ran after her.

"Hey, where are you going?" Paul questioned catching up to her.

"We are going to get Trish." Stephanie replied. "She needs friend right now."

"Are you serious?" Paul whined.

"Yeah, I am." Stephanie stopped in her tracks.

"Fine." Paul sighed as he kept walking, but stopped when Steph grabbed his arm.

She pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss was long and wanting. She ran her fingers through his low pony tail as she continued the kiss. His arms instantly wrapped around her waist as he kissed her back. Both their hearts raced as the wind blew. After a minute or two, they both came up for air. Their lips still lingering above one another's.

"You do this for me…" Stephanie began. "I'll do something for you."

"Ok." Paul smirked as he kissed her again.

"I thought you'd see it my way." Stephanie smiled as she returned the kiss.

"Why don't you head back to your house and I'll go get Trish." Paul spoke.

"We live right next to each other." Stephanie shook her head.

"Yeah, I know." Paul responded. "You can go change like you always do."

"Oh whatever." Stephanie giggled hitting him in the arm a little bit.

Paul and Stephanie continued their walk home. They had finally reached both houses. Paul kisses Stephanie once more before she headed into her own house. He couldn't help but smile as he watched her go inside. Once she was fully inside, Paul walked over to Trish's house. He headed up the pathway and made it to the door. He knocked a few times before Trish answered the door.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Paul asked taking notice of her red eyes.

"It's nothing." Trish half smiled.

"Ok, fine." Paul wasn't going to push her into talking. "So, why aren't you even ready."

"I don't know." Trish sighed. "Give me a few minutes."

"Take your time." Paul spoke as Trish let him inside and closed the door behind him.

Trish headed upstairs to get changed into something a little more appropriate for going out in. She was currently only in a tank top and sweat pants. While Trish was upstairs changing Paul was sitting in the living waiting for her. He was doing something on his phone when he heard a thud come from upstairs. Worried for Trish's safety he ran upstairs. He knocked a couple of times on the door, but never got an answer. Paul prepared himself for the sight he may see. He wasn't sure if Trish was fully clothed or not, but he had to make sure she was ok. Paul opened the door and looked around. He didn't see a sign of Trish, until he noticed her blonde hair inching above the bed. He slowly walked over to where Trish was sitting on the floor. She was crying her eyes out as she clung to a sweatshirt. Paul didn't understand why so many tears as she held onto the sweatshirt. As he looked at Trish, he looked closer at the sweatshirt. It was one of Chris' sweatshirts. He sighed as he sat down next to Trish on the floor. He hated seeing his friends like this. Paul wrapped an arm around Trish's shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. Trish leaned in and laid her head on Paul's shoulder as she continued to cry. He rubbed her back trying to comfort her as best as he could. Trish continued to cry, but she spoke while the tears still flowed.

"I hurt him so bad." Trish cried out. "I never meant to."

"You just have to give him time Trish." Paul soothed. "Give him some space to heal."

"He's different." Trish let out. "He's not the same Chris anymore."

"What makes you say that?" Paul questioned.

"He almost killed Brock at lunch today." Trish spoke as tears continued to run. "If the teachers hadn't pulled him off, I think he would have killed him."

"Chris wouldn't have killed him." Paul stated. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Chris attacked Brock." Trish began. "He beat the hell out of him. Then a couple of teachers came and pulled him off. Chris told Brock to stay away from me and then he some how got away from the teachers. He then attacked Brock for the second time. The teachers got a hold of him again and pulled him out of the cafeteria. He yelled at Brock saying that I 'was' his. Brock could barely walk out of the cafeteria by himself."

"Are you serious?" Paul wondered.

"Yeah, it was like he was a man possessed." Trish cried. "I caused it."

"You didn't cause that Trish." Paul reassured his friend.

"If I hadn't have cheated, none of this would have happened." Trish responded.

"Why that is true." Paul began. "It doesn't mean you are the reason Chris flipped."

"How so?" Trish asked feeling a little better.

"Brock probably said something to provoke Chris." Paul said. "I know he wouldn't just flip out for nothing."

"I guess." Trish frowned. "I just wish none of this happened."

"Think of it this way." Paul started. "We are all still young and in high school. You've got your whole life ahead of you. This is just a test to see if you and Chris really belong together. You two need time apart to see if the love you two share is really that strong."

"So you think we might have another shot?" Trish questioned as hope began to come back to her.

"A little longer down the line I think you two have another shot." Paul smiled. "But you need to let him have his time and space. You also need to learn to be independent before you can truly be happy in a committed relationship."

"Thanks Paul." Trish replied hugging him with a small smile.

"There's that smile I've been looking for." Paul smiled. "Now you get dressed, I think Steph is wondering where the hell we are."

"Ok." Trish smiled again feeling better.

"What's taking you two so long?" Stephanie asked as she walked into the room.

"Oh, we were just talking." Paul smiled at Trish. "She's going to get dressed now."

Paul gently pushed Stephanie out of the room and shut the door behind him. Stephanie looked at Paul strangely wondering what he and Trish were talking about. They both headed downstairs and into the living room. They both sat on the couch and waited for Trish.

"What were you two talking about?" Stephanie wondered.

"She wasn't sure what color to wear today." Paul smirked.

"Oh, shut up." Stephanie shook her head. "Seriously."

"Let's just put it this way." Paul explained. "She's feeling better about herself."

"I guess I'll let that one slide." Stephanie smiled.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris walked down the hall of the school building. He was on his way to detention. Jericho had come from the principal's office. He was a bit angry that he hadn't been suspended. The principal has know Chris for a very long time, and he knew this wasn't like Chris at all. Sure Chris was getting into trouble all the time and pulling jokes, but never had he been so violent. Suspending Chris wouldn't fix his problem. So he was given two weeks of detention. He figured having detention would be a lot better then going home to sulk and be lonely. Chris was actually kinda of happy at what he had done to Brock. He would more then likely do it again if he had the chance. A smug smirk formed on his face thinking of how he beat the crap out of Brock. It made him feel a little bit better, but he was still hurting. Chris made it to the door and opened it slowly. He looked around and took notice of six other students in the room. Who know people were such fans of getting detention. Chris handed his slip to the teacher. The teacher looked it over and nodded to the chairs in front of him. Chris shook his head and sat down in the back corner. He pulled out his ipod and began to listen to it. It was only a few minutes later when he took notice of people staring at him. He looked up to see two guys and one girl all staring at him.

"What?" Chris asked with no emotion.

"You're new in here?" The girl smirked.

"You're point?" Chris questioned.

"I'm Christian." Christian began. "This is Tyson and Maryse."

"So…" Chris was obviously not interested.

"We saw what you did today to Brock." Tyson spoke.

"It was awesome." Maryse answered. "What made you do it?"

"I felt like it." Chris replied.

"I think he should be in our group." Maryse looked at Christian.

"I don't know." Christian responded. "He doesn't seem interested."

"Groups are so high school." Chris rolled his eyes. "What are you anyway?"

"We don't really label ourselves." Tyson answered. "We just get into trouble a lot."

"Like what kind?" Chris asked curiously.

"Like this." Christian smirked as the fire alarm went off.

The teacher shot up out of his desk and ran out of the classroom. Chris looked on as Christian, Tyson and Maryse stood up and walked out of the building. Chris raised an eyebrow as he also rose. He followed the three. Once they were all outside they stopped outside the front of the building.

"You guys planned that?" Chris asked.

"Yeah we did." Tyson smirked pulling out a cigarette. "Want one?"

Chris watched as Maryse and Christian both took one and lit them. They began smoking them as the watched Chris. He couldn't help but notice how worry free the three of them were. It was like they had no problems in the world. They seemed fine and content with their current state of mind. Chris wanted that and needed it desperately.

"I'll take one." Chris sated taking a cigarette from the pack.

He was hesitant on taking the first puff, because he had never smoked before in his life. He didn't want to look dumb in front of them for not being able to handle it. He slowly took the first puff and blew the excess smoke out of his mouth. Surprisingly, he felt like this wasn't his first time smoking. It came at ease to him. He quickly felt relaxed from the problems that had transpired with him. He smirked as he took another puff. Christian and Tyson gave each other a look in approval. Maryse couldn't help be let her eyes be glued to Chris. She found him quite attractive.

"Aren't you dating that one blonde chick?" Christian asked looking at Chris as they all began walking away from the school.

"I'm not dating anyone." Chris spoke a little bit of his hurt coming back.

"Really?" Maryse smirked as she instantly linked arms with Chris.

"Yup, I'm a free man." Chris eyed the tall blonde. "But you're more then welcome to change that."

"I'd be delighted to change it." Maryse smiled as she continued to walk with Chris.

"You two going to be fine?" Tyson questioned. "Christian and I have some other business to attend to."

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Chris' eyes never leaving Maryse.

"See you guys later." Maryse stated as she puffed the last puff of her cigarette along with Chris. "What do you want to do now?"

"I'm sure we can figure something out." Chris licked his lips at the blonde next to him.

"You want to head back to my place?" Maryse bit her bottom lip. "I'd be just us."

"You read my mind." Chris smirked at Maryse.

"You wont be sorry." Maryse raised an eyebrow with a slight seductive smile as she led the way down the street.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy walked down the street. She had to stay after school for a little bit before heading home. She was now on her way home. She kicked a few rocks as she continued down the sidewalk she was on. Stacy looked up to see what street she was on and noticed Candice a little bit ahead of her. She was about to yell her name when she watched Candice look around to make sure no one was watching. Stacy held back her yell as she watched Candice cross the street now. Stacy wasn't sure if she should follow her or not, but she decided to follow. She had nothing better to do and maybe they could hang out and be a bit better friends. Stacy crossed the same street as Candice. They walked a couple of blocks, before Candice disappeared down an alley. Stacy wrinkled her eyebrows as she looked down the alley. There was a small tiny building that looked to be an old apartment complex. Stacy hesitantly walked down the alley and to the building. She looked around and noticed Candice enter the building. Stacy hurriedly followed inside so she didn't lose Candice. Once inside the building, Stacy took in her surroundings. There were a lot of people in the building. They all looked rough. Rough was the only nice way to put it. Stacy looked around and noticed Candice going up some stairs. She quickly followed suit and went up the stairs. Candice entered a room and shut the door behind her. Stacy bit her lip as she wondered if she should confront Candice or not. She took one more look around the area and walked over to the door. Stacy knocked and waited for an answer. While waiting, Stacy realized that Candice was living in a shelter.

"Hello…" Candice trialed off as she opened the door.

"Hey Candice." Stacy looked at Candice.

"What are you doing here?" Candice questioned.

"I followed you." Stacy said honestly. "I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out."

"Now isn't the best time." Candice answered. "I have to go."

"Candice, I know you don't know me that well…" Stacy began. "But I'll listen if you want to talk about it."

With that said, Stacy turned and walked away. Candice watched as Stacy made her way over to the stairs she had previously walked up. She bit her lip as Stacy was about to go down the stairs. The thought of Stacy knowing where she lived was eating away at her. She didn't know if Stacy would tell anyone or let alone tell Randy. Candice thought twice, but called out after Stacy.

"Do you want to come in?" Candice said loudly.

"Sure." Stacy spoke turning around.

Stacy walked back over to Candice. Candice stepped aside to let Stacy in the room. Once inside the room, Stacy looked around the room. It was smaller then a studio apartment. There was no furniture except for two plastic fold up chairs. There was a box as a table. A few blankets were laying on the floor. Stacy glanced over to the far right of the room and noticed two mattresses laying on the ground. Stacy couldn't help but fight back tears.

"As you can tell…" Candice started off. "I'm homeless."

"I'm sorry…" Stacy was unsure of what to say as she looked at Candice.

"My mom got fired from her job and my dad divorced her." Candice started. "Then this really nice guy offered my mom a job here. So she decided to look into it. We moved all the way down here from Milwaukee so my mom could get this job. Turns out, the only way she could get the job was if she slept with him. My mom wouldn't do it. He laughed at her and turned his back on us. We have no family down here and we don't have enough money to get back to Milwaukee. So, we are pulling through this way."

Stacy was speechless as Candice told her this story. She wasn't sure of what to say or what to do. She really wanted to help Candice and her mother though. Candice seemed nice and sweet enough. The only thing Stacy could think to do was hug Candice. She reached in and wrapped her arms around Candice. Stacy held her pretty tight giving Candice the feeling that everything would be ok. That's when Candice's mother walked in the door.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Ms. Michelle spoke. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"It's ok mom." Candice spoke. "This is Stacy."

"Hi." Stacy smiled sincerely.

"It's nice to meet you Stacy." Candice's mother said as she put her things down and walked back out the door.

"Why is she leaving already?" Stacy asked.

"She's probably just going to the bathroom." Candice replied. "We have to share everything."

Stacy looked around the room again. They had no food, no fridge, no dishes, nothing. She didn't know how they were able to live this way. Stacy also took notice of the two suitcases that were packed with clothes. She assumed that one was hers and the other was her mothers. Candice and Stacy hadn't known each other that long, but Stacy felt like she already knew so much about Candice. She didn't want them living like this. She didn't want Candice to feel like a charity case at the offer she was about to put on the table. Before Stacy could say anything, Candice' mom reentered the room.

"Candice, can I speak with you alone?" Ms. Michelle asked her daughter.

"Yeah, sure thing mom." Candice looked over at Stacy. "It will only take a minute."

Candice and her mother walked outside the door to speak. The walls were paper thin and Stacy could easily here everything they were saying. She covered her mouth when she heard Candice's mom say they were going to be kicked out pretty soon if they didn't pay the small fine that was past due. Stacy's heart broke for them. She wanted to help. She would help. Stacy waited patiently until the two came back inside. It was clearly written on both their faces that tears had escaped both their eyes.

"Stacy, I think its time for you to go home." Candice said softly.

"I'm sorry." Stacy replied. "I couldn't help but over hear what you guys were talking about. If you don't mind, I'd really like it if you both came and stayed with my parents and I at my house. We have a really big house. There is enough room for you both."

"Stacy dear, I'm thankful for your generosity." Ms. Michelle spoke. "But I can't take you up on that offer."

"Please…" Stacy nearly begged. "My parents would be ok with it. Candice can stay in my room with me. We have a guest room you can stay in. You can stay as long as you need to or until you can get on your own feet. You wouldn't have to worry about rent or anything. I don't want you to think that this is a charity case, because its not. I'd really hate to see you guys sleeping on the streets. It's getting ready to snow as well."

"Mom, we have no where else to go." Candice looked at her mom.

"Are you sure it would be ok with your parents?" Ms. Michelle questioned.

"They always say the more the merrier." Stacy smiled.

"Well, just until we can get on our own two feet." Ms. Michelle spoke with a small smile.

"Thank you soo much!" Candice beamed as she wrapped her arms around Stacy. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"It's nothing." Stacy smiled at them. "What are friends for?"

Stacy motioned to her cell phone to call her parents. She walked out of the room and shut the door behind her. Candice looked at her mom who was about to cry. She was a little confused at her mother's reaction. She thought that she'd be happy.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Candice questioned.

"Nothing sweetheart." She replied. "You've got a really great friend there."

"You think?" Candice looked at where Stacy once stood.

"I don't thing." She responded. "I know so."

"I know so to mom." Candice smiled removing all the negative things that the girl had told her before about Stacy.

"She's a really sweet girl." Ms. Michelle stated as she went over to her suitcase.

"I think we're going to be really good friends." Candice answered. "This is the first nice thing anyone has done for us, except for Randy."

"Didn't you say those two are best friends?" Ms. Michelle questioned.

"Yeah, they are." Candice replied.

"Then why does she know?" She asked again. "And Randy doesn't?"

"She followed me here." Candice looked at her suitcase.

"Are you going to tell Randy?" Ms. Michelle asked.

"I'm going to have to pretty soon." Candice sighed. "We are going to be living at his best friend's house."

"That's true." Ms. Michelle exclaimed.

"You guys ready?" Stacy walked back into the room. "My parents can't wait to meet you guys."

"Yeah, we are ready." Candice smiled as Stacy helped her with her suitcase.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please review.


	39. Heading Down The Wrong Road

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 39: Heading Down The Wrong Road

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

It was Friday afternoon. The last couple of days went by rather quickly. Trish was starting to come out of her depressed state and was starting to hang out with her friends again, rather then hiding out in her room. That was thanks to Paul for talking with Trish. He really helped her out. Though, Trish had started to come out of her shell she had created, she hadn't seen much of Chris. She still thought that he was avoiding her. Paul and Stephanie couldn't have been any happier. They continuously spent time alone together. Both did hang out with their friends, but that was short lived most times. All their friends understood, and brushed it off. Randy and Candice were still dating. Randy has yet to find out about Candice's living with Stacy due to the fact that she was homeless just a couple days ago. Randy has caught on to Candice not wanting him to take her home, so now he is paying a bit closer attention to her. Stacy and Candice have become really good friends considering the fact that they are living together now. Both girls are sharing Stacy's room for the time being. Stacy had taken Candice shopping and bought her some clothes with Mr. Keibler's credit card. Stacy was also letting Candice borrow her clothes as well. It was almost as if they were sisters. As for Chris, he has been continuously cutting class and getting into more trouble then he has before. He hasn't spent much time with his best friends. His time is spent with Christian and Tyson, but mostly with Maryse. Maryse had become Chris' new item.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish put away her books in her locker. As she was doing this, she noticed the pictures of herself and Chris still hanging on the door of her locker. She still hadn't taken them down yet. Part of her didn't take them down, hoping that their was a chance at maybe getting back together. Trish shook her head, knowing full well that it was over. Well, at least for now. She took her hand and put it over one of the pictures. She sighed as she pulled it down from her door. She slipped it on the top shelf of her locker, putting far enough back as she could. After taking all the pictures down, she closed her locker and turned to face Brock.

"Finally over Jericho are we?" Brock smirked cockily.

"Who the hell are you?" Trish questioned. "The Brock I knew, wouldn't have pulled a stunt like that."

"Yeah, the Brock you knew." Brock laughed. "Let's be honest here Trish."

"Ok, let's be." Trish folded her arms.

"I never liked Chris." Brock stated rolling his eyes. "He always got what he wanted."

"No he doesn't!" Trish defended Chris.

"He got you when I wanted you." Brock explained. "Not like I really wanted you anyways."

"What are you talking about?" Trish asked feeling sick to her stomach.  
"Trish, did you really believe that I wanted to date you?" Brock chuckled. "You were just one of my quick screw."

Trish bit her lip as anger took over her. She glared at Brock. She didn't understand. He was so sweet to her that night and when they tried to date. She really thought Brock was a genuine and sweet guy. Trish now realized that Brock was using her the entire time. Anger continued to build up inside of Trish.

"So, in the end, I got what I wanted." Brock said. "I screwed you and I took what Chris really wanted."

"Yeah, well that shiner you've got there proves differently." Trish answered.

"Yeah, he may have got a punch here and there." Brock was cut off.

"He kicked your ass!" Trish stated. "If it wasn't for the teachers, he'd probably have killed you."

"Whatever." Brock rolled his eyes yet again. "I got what he wanted in the end."

"News flash Brock." Trish started. "You don't have me, and you never will."

"Yeah, that may be true, but he doesn't have you now does he?" Brock laughed.

Trish breathed in deeply as anger took over her entire body. She looked up at a laughing Brock. She felt disgusted with him. As she shook her head, she pulled back her right arm and let it come at Brock's cheek with full force. Brock's face flew to the side from Trish's slap. Instantly Brock put his hand to his cheek. He whipped his face towards Trish who was glaring daggers into him. He chuckled slightly as he felt the sting on his cheek. As Brock looked up behind Trish, the words he was going to tell her were changed at the sight in front of him.

"Maybe I didn't get what he wanted?" Brock smirked. "Guess I'll have to try again."

"You're still talking mess?" Trish questioned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Maybe Jericho didn't want you after all." Brock laughed pointing down the hall.

Once Trish turned around, putting her back to Brock, he left. Trish looked down the hall to see Chris and Maryse talking by Maryse's locker. She tilted her head as she watched on. Her eyes began to get teary when she notice Chris take Maryse's hand into his. Chris pushed Maryse up against locker a bit roughly getting a smirk from Maryse in return. He ran his hand threw her hair and with his other hand he raised up Maryse's left leg. Maryse wrapped her arms around Chris' neck as they continued their make out session. After a few more minutes, both Chris and Maryse pulled apart. Maryse kissed Chris one last time before walking off. Just before Maryse was out of Chris' reached, he smacked her ass as she left. He licked his lips as he watched her leave. Trish was glued to her spot she was standing in. She couldn't believe it. Chris moved on and was acting like Trish and him had never dated. A few tears began to stream down her face. She couldn't take standing there anymore. With everything Trish had, she turned and ran down the hallway.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris smirked as he watched his girlfriend Maryse walk down the hallway. She was on her way to detention. He would be joining her alongside Tyson and Christian. They has been caught vandalizing school property with spray paint. Chris stopped smirking as he got the feeling that someone was watching him. He turned to look down the hall seeing a small glimpse of something turning the corner. Chris shrugged it off. It must have not been anything important. He sighed to himself as he walked down the hall in the direction that Maryse had headed. As he walked down the hall he bumped into Randy. There was still a bit of bad blood between Randy and Chris after their last argument. Randy was only trying to help Chris, when Chris threw it back in his face. They haven't talked since nor seen each other.

"Watch where you're going." Chris scoffed turning his nose up to Randy.

"Sorry man." Randy replied. "I didn't mean to."

"No one asked for your apology." Chris fired back.

"Dude, what's going on?" Randy asked. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No, I just don't associate with people like you." Chris rolled his eyes.

"What's gotten into you?" Randy questioned. "What happened to my best friend?"

"I haven't gotten myself into anything." Chris answered. "I don't know what happened to your best friend. Why don't you go talk to Paul, Steph, Stacy, or the slut and maybe they can tell you what's up with them, since they are your best friend."

"Damn it Jericho!" Randy shoved Chris into the lockers hoping to knock some sense into him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Chris nodded his head up and down with a slight chuckle. He licked his lips as he ran his thumb across his bottom lip. He cracked his neck and looked up at Randy who was staring at him. Chris stepped to Randy, and in one smooth quick motion Randy was up against the lockers against Chris' body. Chris right forearm was pressed up against Randy's neck as he took his left hand and dug in his pocket.

"You don't know who the hell you are messing with Orton." Chris said lowly.

"Chris, cut it out." Randy choked out his eyes scanning Chris.

"No Orton, you cut it out." Chris started. "Tell your little friends I want nothing to do with them and you."

"Chris, just talk to me." Randy begged his eyes getting a bit wide.

"I'm done with talking." Chris yelled as he took the knife from his pocket and held it up to Randy's face. "Don't test me Orton."

"Chris, just calm down." Randy gasped for air afraid for his own life.

"Now you want to listen to me." Chris rolled his eyes "Don't fuck with me Orton."

With that said, Chris stepped away from Randy letting him breath. He rolled his eyes with an evil chuckle as he watched Randy grab his neck trying to calm down. Chris laughed as he turned his back on his once best friend. He tossed his knife up in the air and caught it without cutting himself. Chris headed down the hall on his way to detention. He stopped dead in his tracks as he heard Randy yell out to him.

"Just because you've turned your back on us, doesn't mean we've turned ours on you."

Chris turned and looked at Randy who was looking down at him. Jericho turned his back on Randy yet again. He walked down the rest of the hall and walked into the detention room. He scanned the room seeing Maryse, Tyson and Christian sitting in the back corner. He went up to them and sat down right next to Maryse. She quickly stood up and moved over to Chris' lap and giving him a quick kiss. Jericho smiled as he looked at his new founded friends. They surely understood him and wouldn't betray him. If only Chris could see what he was loosing in the end.

XoxoxoxoX

Paul and Stephanie threw the covers down from over their heads. Their bodies were still covered by the blanket. The only thing visible were their heads and bare shoulders. They both laid side by breathing heavily and quickly. Both of their hands clutched onto the pink blanket that covered them. Stephanie turned her head to look at Paul who returned the look to her. She smiled as she scooted closer to him and turning onto her side. He leaned down and kissed Stephanie on the lips. They pulled apart letting their lips linger above one another. Stephanie then rested her head on his chest. She took her left hand and began to trace over Paul's abs.

"I love you." Paul smiled as he ran a hand threw her hair.

"I love you too." Stephanie beamed. "That was amazing."

"Nothing but the best for you." Paul stated as he looked around her bedroom.

"What did you tell your parents?" Stephanie questioned.

"I told I'm was staying at Randy's for the weekend." Paul kissed the top of her head.

"This weekend with you is going to be the best." Stephanie smiled looking up at him. "No parents, just you and me."

"So, why aren't your parents here for the weekend?" Paul questioned.

"They had to fly out for some company meeting." Stephanie spoke. "They wont be back until Monday morning."

"It's a good thing you wont be all alone." Paul grinned as he pulled her up to his face level.

"Oh yeah." Stephanie grinned. "You'll be here to protect me."

"I think I can do more then that." Paul raised his eyebrows.

"Prove it." Stephanie answered seductively.

Paul grinned as he rolled Stephanie over and getting on top of her. She giggled as he started to kiss her neck. They started to making out and roaming hands. As soon as Stephanie bit down on Paul's bottom lip, he took the pink blanket that was covering them and pulled it up over their heads. Both their bodies entangled one another. Twenty minutes had passed as Paul and Stephanie were almost about to finish up their 4th time. Stephanie's toes curled under as her breath got caught in her chest as Paul was about to hit her spot.

"OH MY… PAUL!!!" Stephanie screamed out loud as they kept going.

"Steph, is everyth…" Shane stopped in mid sentence.

Shane's eyes got really big as he looked on at the site in front of him. He was at a loss of words and had forgotten how to walk. He was glued to his spot where he stood. Hearing Shane's voice, Paul quickly rolled off of Stephanie. He went a little too fast, as he ended up on the floor wrapped up in Stephanie's blanket. Stephanie was left with just her under sheet. She quickly grabbed the under sheet and pulled it up over her chest. She turned a deep red in her face as her eyes met her brother's eyes. Paul just laid on the floor not moving. He didn't dare move or show his face. It was bad enough Randy and Stacy had already walked in on them, and now Shane. It looked as if they had a habit of getting caught. Stephanie and Paul were a bit confused because they both thought that it would just be Stephanie at the house this weekend.

"What are you doing here?" Stephanie didn't really know what to say.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Shane spoke. "You are supposed to be staying at Trish's place."

"So, what are you doing here?" Stephanie asked again.

"Mom and Dad wanted me to check in on the place." Shane looked at Paul still lying on the ground wrapped in the blanket. "I heard you screaming."

"Get out!!" Stephanie screeched.

Shane quickly followed suit and left his sister's bedroom. Once Shane was out of the room, Stephanie quickly got up and put on her spandex shorts and Paul's shirt. She looked over at Paul who stood up in the blanket. He looked at her and she could see the embarrassment and worry on his face. She knew that look of worry. Would Shane tell their parents? That was both Stephanie and Paul's fear. They feared that Vince would find out. Vince was all for Paul and Stephanie, but to know they were having sex wasn't the best idea. She sighed as she walked over to Paul and gave him a quick kiss. She motioned for him to stay put and that she'd be right back. Stephanie walked out of her room and downstairs to where her brother sat on the couch.

"You don't have to explain yourself." Shane stated as Stephanie sat down next to him.

"Shane, what are you going to do?" Stephanie asked.

"I don't know." Shane ran a hand over his head.

"Please don't tell daddy." Stephanie begged.

"Why not?" Shane questioned.

"It would kill him." Stephanie answered.

"Steph, you could get pregnant." Shane looked at his baby sister.

"I'm not going to get pregnant." Stephanie spoke. "We are careful and we use protection."

"I bet he forced himself on you." Shane glared upstairs.

"No, he didn't." Stephanie explained. "It was my idea and I started it."

"What?" Shane looked at his little sister.

"Shane, I'm 18 years old." Stephanie started. "I'm practically an adult now. I can make my own choices. I have to make my own mistakes and learn from them. I'm not a baby anymore. You need to let me go and do things on my own. I know you are just trying to protect me, but you can't protect me forever. I need to spread my wings."

"But you're my baby sister." Shane said hating the fact that Stephanie was growing up so quickly.

"I'll always be your baby sister." Stephanie smiled. "I just have to live my own life."

"He takes care of you?" Shane asked Stephanie.

"Yeah he does." Stephanie answered. "The best."

"I always liked him." Shane replied. "I'll tell you what."

"What?" Stephanie questioned.

"Since you were so honest with me." Shane began. "I'll let you stay here, which I'm assuming that Paul was planning on staying the weekend, and I wont tell mom or dad."

"You're the best!" Stephanie smiled as she hugged her brother.

With that said, Shane gave his sister one last hug before he left the house. Stephanie locked the door behind him and she practically ran up the stairs. She looked at Paul who was sitting in the middle of her bed in his boxers. A full fledge grin came on her face as she jumped on her bed and on top of Paul. She kissed him passionately. Paul understanding everything went along with Stephanie's advances.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy pulled her car up into the drive way and parked. She shut her car off and looked over at Candice who was in the passenger's seat playing with her new cell phone that Stacy had bought her. Although, Candice hated when Stacy and her family bought her things, she really did like the items she received. She was very thankful for Stacy. She looked up over at Stacy and smiled. They both got out of the car and grabbed the rest of their shopping bags. They headed inside the house and shut the door behind them. Candice followed Stacy up the stairs and to Stacy's bedroom. They both dropped their items on the one king sized bed in the room. They were sharing the bed, which wasn't a problem.

"Thanks for taking me shopping." Candice smiled. "Again."

"You don't have to thank me." Stacy smiled back. "You hungry?"

"Starving." Candice answered putting numbers into her new cell phone.

"Me too." Stacy spoke. "Let's go downstairs and grab something to eat."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Candice answered.

Both girls headed back downstairs. They were for sure alone in the house. Stacy turned on the radio that was in the kitchen. Stacy and Candice began to dance to the music as the song was quite up to beat. Candice giggled as she watch Stacy juggle to apples in front of her chest. She tossed an apple at Candice who caught it in return. Candice took a bite of the apple as Stacy continued to raid the fridge.

"Candice, have you told Randy yet?" Stacy questioned.

"No, not just yet." Candice sighed. "I'm going to."

"I suggest you do it soon." Stacy replied. "Randy's bound to come over anytime."

"What do you mean?" Candice asked.

"Randy and I are best friends." Stacy spoke taking out two yogurts. "He comes over all the time."

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Candice answered. "I'll tell him in due time."

"Why haven't you told him already then?" Stacy looked up at Candice.

"What if he thinks differently of me?" Candice confessed.

"Randy, think different of you?" Stacy laughed. "Ha, he thinks you're hot, he's not going to change his mind."

"He thinks I'm hot?" Candice blushed.

"Like you didn't already know that." Stacy giggled.

"Yeah, you're right." Candice laughed along side Stacy.

"Anyways, off topic of Randy." Stacy said handing Candice the other yogurt she had pulled out. "Andrew wants to meet you."

"Andrew?" Candice was a bit confused.

"My boyfriend." Stacy beamed.

"Oh, sorry." Candice replied. "I'm not fully here today."

"It's ok." Stacy started. "I've told him a lot about you."

"About me being homeless?" Candice questioned.

"No, I would never." Stacy said. "It's not my place to tell your business."

"Thanks Stacy." Candice smiled. "You aren't like what the girl said."

"What?" Stacy turned to look at Candice.

"Well, a few days ago, this girl came up to me and said these awful things about you." Candice started. "You've proved her to be a liar."

"What did she say?" Stacy wondered.

"She said you we're only being nice to me because you wanted Randy all to yourself." Candice explained.

"Who told you that?" Stacy asked curiously.

"I don't know her name." Candice frowned. "I'd remember her if I saw her."

"I swear, girls don't give me the time of day." Stacy sighed.

"What do you mean?" Candice questioned.

"Randy is the hottest guy at Greenwich High." Stacy began. "Randy and I have been best friends since we were in diapers. So we've always been pretty close. When the girls at school found out we were dating, they all hated me. I was with the hottest guy in school and that meant he was off limits. Which, I don't understand, because we broke up and they all still hate me."

"You and Randy have been through a lot." Candice looked down thinking.

"Hey, you have nothing to worry about." Stacy reassured Candice. "I'm over him, I'm with Andrew."

"Then why do all the girls still hate you?" Candice wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure." Stacy said. "They don't even take the time to get to know me."

Candice sat at one of the stools that were in Stacy's kitchen. She was slowly eating the yogurt. There was a silence between the two after Stacy had spoke. Candice couldn't help but wonder why the girls at school wouldn't like Stacy. She seemed sweet enough and nice enough. Candice thought about what Stacy had told her about Randy. The girls envied Stacy because she was with Randy at the time. It didn't make sense as to why they would still hate her, unless.

"Maybe he's not over you." Candice said aloud not meaning to.

"Huh?" Stacy looked over at Candice.

"It's nothing." Candice cursed to herself not wanting Stacy to hear that.

"No, what did you say?" Stacy questioned.

"Maybe the girls hate you, because they think he isn't over you." Candice sighed.

"But he is…" Stacy thought back to the conversation they had a while ago.

As Stacy started to think about the conversation they had about Randy still loving her, she got a bit worried. This caused her to think about the time at the mall and in her bedroom when they almost kissed again. The reason this worried her was because she really liked Andrew and she didn't want to hurt Candice. Stacy was kidding herself, she knew Randy wasn't over her. She herself wasn't over Randy, but them being together so soon would just make things work. They both needed to date other people to make sure. Stacy couldn't help, but continuously keep finding herself thinking of Randy. Whether it be in a romantic way or just a friend way. Stacy shook her head, Randy was with Candice now, and she wanted it to stay that way. Candice deserved it.

"He's not over you is he?" Candice asked fearing the answer she had already come up with.

"Candice…" Stacy didn't know where to start. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if he's over me or not."

"Great, just great." Candice sighed putting her head down.

"I'm over him." Stacy lied. "He's dating you, and you have nothing to worry about."

"I'm just the rebound girl." Candice looked up at Stacy.

"No, you aren't." Stacy looked at Candice. "I've known Randy forever, you aren't the rebound girl."

"You just said he wasn't over you." Candice looked up at Stacy.

"I said I wasn't sure if he was or wasn't." Stacy replied. "That was a while ago when he said he wasn't."

"I really like him." Candice said to Stacy as she looked down.

"He really likes you." Stacy smiled. "Trust me on this one."

"Thanks for not getting all crazy about us dating." Candice hugged Stacy.

"Like I said." Stacy faked a smile. "I'm over him, he's all yours."

Stacy and Candice finished their hug and pulled apart. They smiled at each other and walked into the living room. Stacy walked over to the DVD rack that they had. She was looking for a movie to watch. There was a knock on the door while Stacy was looking for a movie to watch. Candice headed upstairs to grab a blanket and a pillow. Stacy continued looking for a movie as there was a knock at the door again. Stacy sighed as ignoring the door knock was obviously not going away. She walked over to the door and answered the door. She came face to face with Randy.

"Hey, what's up?"

Stacy questioned as she looked at Randy who looked to be scared out of his mind. Something had happened, but she couldn't tell just what it was. Randy was about to speak until he looked inside the door and saw Candice coming down the stairs with a blanket and a pillow. He was confused now. Why was his girlfriend and ex-girlfriend in the same house together?

"Stace, thanks again for letting me and my mom live with you guys until we can get off onto our own two feet."

Candice smiled walking down the stairs as she looked up she stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes locked with Randy's eyes. Randy's confusion was now partially cleared up. His girlfriend was living with his ex-girlfriend. This would be one crazy ride.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think. All ideas are welcome as well.

Citcat


	40. Losing Family

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 40: Losing Family

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy and Candice hadn't broke eye contact since she came down the stairs. He was still trying to put the pieces together. As for Candice, she was real close to running back up the stairs. She was going to tell him, but she didn't want him to find out like this. Stacy shook her head as she looked from Candice to Randy. It was almost as if Stacy knew that Randy would be coming by today. She wasn't expecting him, so she wanted to know what he wanted. Stacy figured to just let them talk first. So, Stacy went upstairs and grabbed Candice by the arm, and shoved her outside towards Randy.

"Go talk to him." Stacy said breaking the silence. "Then you can come back."

With that said Stacy shut the door, and locked it just in case. She knew Candice didn't have her spare key on her, and that's why she did what she did. Randy looked over at Candice who still had the pillow and blanket in her hand. She set them down on a porch chair and then looked towards Randy. He looked like he was waiting for answers. Candice sighed as she looked down and started playing with her fingers.

"I'm homeless…" Candice spoke softly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Randy questioned confusion clear in his words. "And of all people, you tell Stacy?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Candice shot back looking at Randy.

"I just thought you would have told me first." Randy quickly looked away. "You barely know Stacy."

"Well, for your information, I didn't tell Stacy anything." Candice defended herself. "Stacy followed me to a shelter a few days ago. She begged my mom and I to come stay with her until we can get off our feet."

"Stacy did that?" Randy was a bit taken back.

"Yeah, she did." Candice answered. "She's a really sweet girl, and we've become really good friends."

"Stacy Keibler took you in?" Randy continued to question.

"Yeah, why do you keep asking?" Candice now asked Randy.

"I just never imagined Stacy doing something like that." Randy looked up at Candice. "She usually tried to keep other girls away from me."

"I must be different then." Candice smiled a little. "She likes me."

"I guess so." Randy looked up at the front door. "She likes you."

"Yeah, I'm really glad I got to know her." Candice beamed. "She's so sweet to me."

"It's almost as if you two are sisters." Randy spoke continuing to look at the door.

"You could say that." Candice replied. "In a matter of days we've become really close."

"So, she wouldn't want to hurt you in any way." Randy sighed as he looked away from the door.

"I hope she wouldn't want to hurt me." Candice answered.

"Since you two are such good friends." Randy started. "She wouldn't think twice about hurting you."

"Why do you seem so down?" Candice questioned Randy.

"Oh, it's nothing." Randy lied. "I just wished you would have told me first."

"Well, I would have told you first." Candice took Randy's hand. "Stacy followed me, that's the only reason she knew before you."

"So, you two live together now?" Randy asked.

"Yeah, just until my mom and I can get onto our own feet." Candice smiled.

"That's great." Randy nodded his head. "If you don't mind, I need to talk to Stacy."

"That's fine." Candice answered.

Candice smiled up at Randy and kissed him. When she pulled back, she got a smile from Randy in return. Candice walked over to the front door, and knocked. She waited a minute or so before the door was answered. Stacy stood in the door way with her hands on her hips.

"Did you two actually talk?" Stacy smirked.

"Yeah, we did." Candice shook her head grabbing the blanket and pillow.

"Stace, I need to talk to you." Randy said, his eyes never leaving Stacy.

"Ok." Stacy looked at Candice. "I put the movie in, but I haven't started it yet."

"Well, guess I'll have to start it." Candice smirked.

"You better not." Stacy laughed. "I might have to kill you."

"Ok, maybe I wont start it." Candice giggled as she entered the house.

Stacy shut the door behind her as she walked outside. She walked over to one of the porch chairs and sat down in them. Randy followed suit as he pulled the porch chair closer to Stacy. He sat down and looked at Stacy. He almost forgot why he came to her house in the first place. As he looked at her, he couldn't help but think about their past memories. He really liked Candice. He'd do anything for Candice. It was just the fact, that he didn't love Candice. I was still in love with Stacy. He couldn't tell her that, so he'd just continue on with Candice, and maybe in hopes, he could learn to love her like he loved Stacy.

"Earth to Randy." Stacy waved her hand in his face.

"Oh, sorry." Randy shook his head.

"It's ok, what is it that you need?" Stacy questioned.

"It's about Chris." Randy sighed now thinking about his encounter with Chris.

"What about Chris?" Stacy asked. "Is he ok?"

"No, he's not ok." Randy looked up at Stacy. "He's going down the wrong road."

"What do you mean?" Stacy questioned leaning forward in her chair.

"He's finally lost it." Randy began. "I bumped into him earlier today, and I tried talking to him. He was acting dumb, so I shoved him into the lockers, hoping to knock some sense into him. Then, next thing I know, I'm up against the locker, against his forearm. He told me to tell everyone to not bother him, then he pulled a knife on me."

"Chris Jericho?" Stacy was in total shock. "Chris, the guy that wouldn't hurt a fly?"

"Yes, I don't know what's gotten into him. Randy sighed. "He's changed."

"Do you think this has to do with Trish?" Stacy asked again.

"I'm not sure." Randy explained. "Maybe a part of it, because he referred to her as a slut."

"It's got to be more then just Trish though." Stacy replied. "But, what else could it be?"

"Rumor has it he's been shacking up with Maryse." Randy spoke out.

"I heard that too." Stacy sighed. "Maryse of all people."

"If he really is with Maryse, then he must be hanging out with Christian and Tyson."

"That's for sure." Stacy shook her head. "I take it he was going to detention when you bumped into him."

"Yeah he was." Randy answered running and hand over his head.

"Then, I'm pretty sure he's with Maryse and the other two." Stacy looked at Randy.

"I told him, that just because he turned his back on us." Randy continued. "Doesn't mean that we turned our backs on him."

"What did he do?" Stacy asked.

"He looked at me and walked away." Randy sighed looking down. "I'm worried about him Stace."

Stacy sighed as she looked over at Randy. He was clearly upset. She was upset as well. The Chris, Randy spoke of was not their friend that they knew from all those years ago. Stacy was unsure of why Chris would turn into this person he was acting like. It wasn't like him. She knew it had something to do with Trish, but that couldn't be the only reason. There had to be something else. Stacy leaned closer to Randy and put her arms around him. She brought Randy into a hug to comfort him. Randy instantly wrapped his arms around Stacy holding on to her.

"He'll come around." Stacy shook her head. "Deep down, he knows who his real friends are."

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie cuddled up to Paul on her bed. She was in his shirt and her spandex shorts. Her hairs was tousled around on her shoulders. Stephanie was glowing with a smile. Paul was only clad in his boxers. Paul was sitting against the headboard and Stephanie was sitting in between his legs. His arms were wrapped around her waist as they watched a movie. They would have little make out sessions here and there, but they did watch the movie. The movie came to the credits and Stephanie took the remote on her nightstand and shut the movie off. Once she turned the t.v. off she put the remote back. She then turned in Paul's arms to face him. She smiled at him as she kissed his lips. He kissed her back in return. Stephanie instantly wrapped her arms around Paul's neck as she continued to kiss him.

"That was a good movie wasn't it." Paul smirked under Steph's kisses.

"Yeah, I guess." Stephanie smirked as Paul kissed her back. "I know a better movie we can watch."

"What's that?" Paul questioned as his hands rested on her hips.

"Well, its more like a movie we could star in." Stephanie grinned.

Paul smirked at his beautiful girlfriend who was straddling his hips. She leaned in and kissed his lips passionately. The kiss became more intense as they made out. Stephanie ran her hands through Paul's hair as she rose up a bit on her legs and leaned down to kiss Paul. When she was hovering over him slightly, he took both of his hands and ran them up her thighs. He continued on up and under his shirt that Stephanie was wearing. Stephanie smiled under Paul's kisses as she felt his warm hands on her body. Stephanie stopped her kiss with Paul and lifted her arms straight in the air. Paul then proceeded to take her shirt off. He tossed the shirt aside as she came back down to him and started kissing him again. Paul's hands grabbed Stephanie by her sides and gently rolled her onto the bed. He was now on top of her. Once in this position, Stephanie took Paul's boxers off with her feet. He leaned in and kissed her deeply as his left hand ran down her thigh. Stephanie bit down softly on Paul's bottom lip. Paul going insane, quickly took Stephanie's spandex off her body. He leaned in again and kissed her feverishly.

"Make love to me Paul." Stephanie barely let out in a whisper as Paul granted her plea.

XoX

Trish sighed as she pulled up against the curb of the street that the house was on. She got out of the car, and noticed that both cars were in the drive way. Trish smiled and sighed a breath of relief knowing that they were inside. She walked up the driveway and knocked on the door a couple of times. There was no answer. She knew they were home. Both cars were outside. She shrugged as she went to the side of the house and got the spare key. She knew where the spare key was, just in case she needed something when they weren't home. She took the key and walked back to the front door. She unlocked the door and walked inside. She shut and locked the door behind her. She looked around the house. It was too quite. Maybe they were sleeping, Trish wondered to herself. She shrugged her shoulders again as she headed upstairs. She tilted her head to the side as she heard slight sounds as she reached the top of the stairs. She looked around as the sounds got louder. Trish got a little scared as she walked towards the sounds. She knew she shouldn't go closer to the noise, but she didn't want a thief to steal anything if that's what it was. She walked up to the door and put her hand on the door knob. Quickly, Trish swung open the door. Trish's mouth dropped at the site in front of her.

"You've got to be kidding me." Paul and Stephanie exclaimed as they rolled away from each other.

Paul and Stephanie had actually grown accustom to the fact that people were going to continue to walk in on them. They weren't as embarrassed the third time of being walked in on. Stephanie took the blanket that was wrapped around both their bodies. She quickly stood up to go grab herself some clothes to put on. Trish was still standing there in shock and her eyes got wider as the blanket left Paul's body.

"HEY!!!" Paul hollered as her quickly grabbed a pillow and covered himself.

Stephanie giggled slightly as she looked over at Paul who was laying naked on her bed and only covered by a pillow. She shook her head as she put on her hot pink spandex on that she got from her dresser. She then pulled out a black tank top and turned her back to Trish an put it on. Once Stephanie was fully covered, she threw the blanket at Paul and pushed the in shock Trish out of her bedroom. Once both girls were out of the room, Paul began to get dressed. Stephanie walked down the stairs followed by Trish. Stephanie made her way into the kitchen and started looking around.

"Are you hungry?" Stephanie questioned.

There was no answer from Trish as Stephanie looked around in the fridge. Stephanie looked up and looked at Trish. She looked really pale and like she had seen a ghost. Stephanie shook her head as she pulled some lunch meats out to make sandwiches.

"What's up?" Stephanie asked Trish.

"You two have sex?" Trish was still in shock.

"Yeah, that's what it looked like didn't it." Stephanie giggled.

"I didn't know." Trish didn't really know what to say.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Stephanie smirked. "Randy, Stacy and Shane didn't know what to say either."

"I'm not the first to walk in on you guys?" Trish was a bit more relieved.

"No, you aren't." Stephanie laughed. "So, what brings you by?"

"I actually was hoping to talk to you about your cousin." Trish looked down.

"Trish, give Chris some space." Stephanie sighed. "That's what he needs right now."

"I don't think that's what he needs." Trish started but was cut off.

"Trish…" Stephanie tried to reason with her.

"He's with Maryse." Trish frowned looking up at Stephanie.

"No way." Stephanie looked at Trish shock written on her face.

"No way what?" Paul questioned as he entered the kitchen.

"Chris hooked up with Maryse." Stephanie said still not believing it.

"That's not good." Paul answered as he started to make himself a sandwich. "She's no good and she's always running around with Christian and Tyson."

"Aren't they always getting into trouble and in detention?" Trish asked curiously.

"Yeah they are." Stephanie sighed. "If Chris is messing around with Maryse, then he's bound to go down that road too."

"Paul, you have to talk to him!" Trish looked at Paul desperately.

"Why me?" Paul questioned aloud.

"Because, you were able to talk to me." Trish sighed. "I know you'd be able to help him."

"You two are the closest in the group." Stephanie looked at Paul. "My cousin needs help."

"I'll see what I can do." Paul gave both girls a weak smile.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris walked down the street with Maryse, Tyson and Christian. They had just gotten out of detention and they were heading to no place in particular. They all were smoking a cigarette and puffing their smoke into the air. As they were walking, they were making small talk about whatever came to mind.

"Hey, I'm throwing a party tomorrow night." Maryse spoke to the 3 some she was with.

"Parents out of town again?" Tyson questioned puffing his cigarette.

"You know it." Maryse smirked as she looked over at Chris. "You should stay at my place tonight."

"You already know I was." Chris smirked pinching Maryse's ass.

"Damn, will you two just get a room already?" Christian rolled his eyes. "It's making me sick."

"Don't get mad because you can't have all this." Maryse smirked as she did a little dance in front of the three guys.

"Not interested." Tyson and Christian said at the same time.

"Whatever." Maryse rolled her eyes as she linked arms with Chris.

"So, what time is this party at?" Christian asked as he tossed the last bit of his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

"It starts at 8 tomorrow night." Maryse answered.

"Drinks?" Tyson questioned.

"I know a few people that are bringing me the drinks tonight." Maryse raised an eyebrow.

Chris listened as the three talked. He had been to a few parties here and there but he never drank. He didn't see the point in drinking. It just messed you up in the head. He looked at Maryse and smirked at her. She was hot, that he couldn't deny. He was a bit hesitant about the party scene. Well, mostly the drinking. He knew he'd have to drink, they'd push him too. Maybe drinking wouldn't be that bad. A lot of people do it, so maybe there was no harm in it.

"How much can you handle?" Tyson questioned Chris.

"Huh?" Chris looked over at Tyson. "I spaced out."

"How much can you handle?" Christian looked at Chris.

Chris wasn't sure exactly what they were talking about. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to look dumb in front of them and like a loser. He tried to think of something quickly.

"I can handle however much you want to give me." Chris said getting nods from everyone.

"You must be the best drinker I know." Christian patter Chris on the back.

"Really?" Chris was a bit worried now.

"I love a man who can handle his alcohol." Maryse smirked as she ran her hand down Chris' chest.

"What can I say?" Chris smirked at his so called friends. "It comes naturally to me."

"Dude, why has it taken us so long to find a guy like you?" Tyson laughed. "Glad to have you apart of our little group."

They all continued walking down the street. Soon all four of them went on their own ways. This left Chris alone now. He thought about his previous actions today. His mind wandered back to Randy. When he thought of Randy, he thought of the group they used to be. It started to bring back memories of Trish. This started to upset him and it pained him. He quickly switched his thoughts to Maryse and a smirk quickly came to his face. Tyson and Christian were awesome to in his opinion. Chris walked up to his front door and walked inside. He looked around and noticed no sign of his parents, but his sister Noelle was sitting in the living room. He walked into the living room and sat down on the couch across from Noelle.

"What's going on Chris?" Noelle questioned her brother.

"You don't have the right to question me." Chris rolled his eyes.

"What's happened to my brother?" Noelle looked at Chris with her teary eyes.

"Nothing's happened." Chris sighed. "You're getting all worked up over nothing."

"Over nothing?" The 13 year old cried standing up.

"What are you talking about Noe?" Chris rubbed his head. "You're giving me a headache."

"I'm going to miss you." Noelle cried some more. "Mom and dad aren't happy with you."

"Damn it Noelle, get to the point." Chris yelled.

"They are upstairs in your room." Noelle breathed. "They know you're smoking."

"Fuck!" Chris seethed as he stood up and headed up to his bedroom.

The moment he entered his bedroom, he saw his mother sitting on his bed crying and his father standing there with a blank expression on his face. They found his stash of cigarettes, but that's not all they found. The box his cigarettes were in, also contained a half of a sandwich bag of marijuana. He looked up at his mother who wouldn't look at him and then to his father who was looking dead at him. He moved his glance to the floor and noticed a suitcase. Chris shook his head as he looked up at his father.

"Get the hell out of my house!" Ted, Chris' father spoke.

"Where am I supposed to go?" Chris barely choked out.

"Anywhere but here." Ted demanded. "We wont have a drug abuser in our house."

"Mom?" Chris looked at his mother begging for help.

"Christopher Keith Jericho…" Ted started anger clear in his voice. "GET OUT!"

Chris leaned down picking up his suitcase. His mother still wouldn't look at him. He turned his back on his parents to leave the room. He looked over his shoulder one last time at his parents, hoping they'd change their minds. The same look stayed on their faces. Chris walked downstairs and to the front door. He looked over at Noelle who came running over to him. She hugged him tightly not wanting to let go. After a minute, she pulled away.

"Please bring my brother back home." Noelle cried as she ran upstairs.

Chris sighed as he looked around the house. He never imagined getting kicked out of his own home and betrayed by his family. He thought that family was supposed to be there for you no matter what. His parents were proving him wrong. Chris shook his head as he walked out the front door for the last time.

XoxoxoxoX

I hope you all like this chapter. Please, don't forget to review. All ideas and thoughts are welcome.

Citcat


	41. Mission Accomplished

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 41: Mission Accomplished

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

The weekend went by normally. It wasn't too quick nor too slow. Nothing major had happened over the weekend, except for Randy finding out that Candice is living with Stacy and Chris getting kicked out of his house. Chris quickly went to Maryse's house where he was welcomed with open arms by her. Maryse's parents didn't really care what went on in their house and who was living in their house. They were never home most of the time. The very next night the party went down at Maryse's place like she had said. Chris being a first time drinker was a light weight. He got drunk very quickly. He came to like drinking as the night progressed. It had become his favorite thing to do besides having sex with Maryse. It made him feel better about himself and he felt no pain. It got so bad, that Chris began to drink everyday.

XoxoxoxoX

Monday afternoon came by rather quickly through out the day. It was now lunch time for half of the school. For the first time in a long time, Trish, Stacy, Stephanie and the newest member of the group Candice all sat down at "the table" that they all used to sit at together. None of the six had sat at the table in a while. It wasn't like they planned to sit at that table, it was actually the only one free. All four girls sat down at the table and began to eat.

"You know it's been so long since we've sat here." Trish chimed in as she opened her juice bottle.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Stephanie replied taking a bite of her salad.

"It doesn't feel right without the guys though." Stacy continued to conversation.

"So, this is like the table all six of you would eat at?" Candice asked.

"Yeah it is." Stephanie smiled. "Or at least used to be."

"What happened?" Candice questioned as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Life happened." Trish sighed. "It sucks."

"What Trish is trying to say is…" Stephanie began. "That a lot of things happened involving our friendships with each other."

"So now it's a bit awkward to sit all together." Stacy finished.

"Why so?" Candice wondered. "It seems like everyone is getting along now."

"Randy and Chris aren't getting along very well." Stacy spoke.

"It's my fault." Trish sighed again.

"Trish, it wasn't your fault." Stephanie shook her head. "The guys just had a minor disagreement."

"I don't think I've met Chris." Candice explained. "Is he as awesome as you guys?"

"He used to be." All three girls said at the same time.

"Is he not your guys' friend anymore?" Candice felt so clueless.

"We aren't sure." Stephanie answered. "He's going down his own path right now."

"Oh." Candice got quiet.

"Don't worry about it though." Stacy smiled.

"Yeah, don't worry." Trish spoke. "So, how do you like living with Stacy?"

"It's awesome." Candice smiled. "She's really sweet and nice."

"Thank you, thank you thank you." Stacy laughed as she bowed.

"You are so full of yourself Keibler." Stephanie shook her head.

"Rather be full of myself then someone else." Stacy smirked looking away from Stephanie.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stephanie asked.

"Oh, come on Steph." Trish giggled. "Like you don't know what Stacy is talking about."

Stephanie sat there thinking a little bit as she looked on at her friends. She didn't know exactly what they were talking about just yet. She continued thinking until her thoughts were interrupted by Stacy.

"Oh, hey Paul." Stacy waved to Paul as he came up to the table and stood behind Stephanie. "Come to fill your girlfriend in?"

"Yeah I was." Paul spoke a bit confused.

Stephanie looked up at Paul and the look of confusion on his face. She then looked over at Trish, Stacy and Candice who were giggling. She quickly put the pieces together. Stephanie turned a deep shade of red when Paul put his hand on her shoulder. Stacy noticed the look on Stephanie's face and spoke.

"I see you get it now." Stacy laughed.

"Shut up!" Stephanie blushed as she turned to Paul. "What's up?"

"What is she talking about?" Paul looked at Stacy then to Stephanie.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Stephanie smiled. "What did you need to tell me?"

"Well, I was looking around for Chris." Paul started. "But I can't seem to find him anywhere."

"We haven't seen him all weekend either." Steph sighed. "I hope he's ok."

"He's fine." Paul reassured Steph. "I talked to some people and found out he got detention this morning."

"Well, at least we know he's here." Steph sighed.

"I'm going to get detention." Paul replied.

"Say what?" Stephanie looked up at him. "Are you crazy?"

"That's the only way I'll be able to talk to him." Paul spoke. "Trust me."

"I do." Stephanie smiled. "Just don't go hooking up with some detention tramp."

"Never in a million years would I think to do that." Paul smiled and kissed Steph. "I'll see you later sweets."

With that said, Paul left in search of Randy. He wouldn't be going to detention alone. After Paul left, Stephanie slowly turned around in her chair to face the girls. All three girls began "ooo-ing" and "aw-ing" at her. Stephanie smiled and gave them all the finger. Then all four girls began to laugh.

"You two are too cute it makes me sick." Stacy smirked taking a drink of her soda.

"Whatever." Stephanie blushed.

"I hope Paul can talk some sense into Chris." Trish spoke looking over at Stephanie.

"I hope so too." Stephanie gave Trish a weak smile.

XoxoxoxoX

Paul walked down the hallway and saw Randy at the end of the hall. He smirked as he ran up to him. Randy looked over at Paul who had a huge smirk on his face. That smirk meant he was up to now good. Randy immediately shook his head no. Randy knew when Paul was about to or was planning on getting in trouble. Randy started to walk away from Paul when Paul started to walk with him.

"Come on Randy." Paul begged. "Help me out."

"I don't even know what you are trying to do." Randy looked at Paul. "All I know is that it involves trouble."

"That's the fun part." Paul smirked. "Please, we have to do it for the girls."

"What is it?" Randy rolled his eyes.

"We have to get detention." Paul smiled.

"Why?" Randy looked at Paul again. "Are you crazy?"

"No, it's the only way I can talk to Chris." Paul confessed.

"Nope, you can do it yourself." Randy shook his head no.

"Come on man." Paul begged again.  
"No!" Randy stated firmly. "The guy almost fucking killed me last Friday."

"Are you serious?" Paul stopped in his tracks.

"He said not to bother him." Randy sighed. "He's done with all of us."

"I didn't know." Paul answered. "I'm sorry."

"He held a knife to my neck." Randy grabbed his neck. "I'm not going around that psychopath."

"I understand." Paul replied. "But he is our friend and he needs our help."

"Did you not hear one word I just said?" Randy said frustrated.

"Yes, I did." Paul spoke. "But…"

"But nothing." Randy stated. "I'm not doing it."

"We don't turn our backs on our friends Randy." Paul reminded Randy of what Randy had told Chris when he walked away from him.

"I guess you can count me in." Randy sighed. "But you are doing all the talking."

"That's fine." Paul grinned as he began to tell Randy his plan.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris took a drink of his alcohol that was hidden in a solid color water bottle. Everyone was now in class. It was 5th period. Instead of being in class, he was sitting outside on the stairs of the school. He hadn't gone to any of his classes at all that day. He just walked around the building. He had also began to spray paint the side of the building but was caught and received detention in the process. He hated the world at the moment. Nothing was going right for him and he didn't know what to do. He sighed as he took another gulp of his drink. His eyes darted to the school building doors as one of them opened. He stared at her as she slowly made her way down the steps. Without any hesitation she sat down next to him. Chris looked at her like she was crazy for sitting next to him. She had some nerve to even come up to him after what she had done.

"I noticed you sitting out here." Trish said softly. "I know I'm the last person you want to see right about now too."

"Then why are you still sitting here?" Chris rolled his eyes.

"Why haven't you moved yet?" Trish questioned back.

Chris looked at Trish oddly. She had a point. He hadn't moved just yet, and for some reason, he wasn't planning on moving either. Why wasn't he going to move? He didn't know just yet. Trish always had some hold over him. No matter how mad and upset he was with her, he could never break himself from her. He had to quickly come up with an excuse so she wouldn't get the hint that she still had this hold on him.

"I was here first." Chris said bluntly.

"Look, I'm just worried about you." Trish sighed. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I didn't know you cared so much." Chris said sarcastically.

"Chris, I do care about you." Trish spoke softly.

"You've got a funny way of showing it." Chris chuckled to himself.

"You can think whatever about me." Trish said standing up.

"Yeah, I will." Chris answered as he looked at her stand up.

Trish was going to leave when her nose got a whiff of something. She looked towards Chris again and noticed him take a drink of something. Chris had set the water bottle on the step next to him. Smelling the smell that she did, she went over to the water bottle and quickly took it.

"HEY!" Chris shouted. "Give it back!"

"Are you serious?" Trish looked at Chris with that sad look on her face. "You're drinking?"

"It's none of your business." Chris said snatching the bottle from Trish.

"That's where you are wrong!" Trish had enough. "I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but I'm your friend. I'm your best friend at that. I don't care if you believe it or not, but I'm your best friend. I want what's best for you. I don't know what's going on in your life right now. I can see you must have a lot of problems going on in your life. I'm going to assume that I'm one of them. I'm sorry. I'm deeply and truly sorry for everything. I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you. I'm sorry I cheated on you. I'm sorry that I broke your heart." Trish breathed as she held back tears. "But not matter how bad I've hurt you, I've hurt myself ten times worse. You can believe it or not. I go to bed hoping that you'll talk to me the next day, but deep down, I know that will never happen. I lost the best thing that ever happened to me, and now I'm paying for it. Life has brought me this problem, but I'm dealing with it in a why that won't screw me over." Trish shook her head as Chris just stared at her. "Yeah, I hurt you, I get it. I'm sorry for doing so, but you don't need to take it out on our friends. They had nothing to do with us. So, you can at least talk to them. Be mad at me all you want, I don't care, but don't shut them out of your life. You'll never get friends like them again, so hold onto them while you can." Trish confessed. "Chris, I love you and I always will love you no matter what you do. I just want you to know, that I'm always here for you. I don't care what time of the day it is or what you've done. You can come to me with anything. You don't have to turn to drinking. It will just screw you up."

With all that said Trish turned her back on Chris and walked back inside the school building. As much as she wanted to cry, she didn't. She held it all in and she actually felt good about not crying. As she thought about it, she was done crying over Chris. She still missed him and wanted him back, but he was no longer worth her tears anymore. Trish took a deep breath as she headed back to her classroom.

XoX

Chris sat there looking at the place where Trish once stood. He took in and listened to each word that came out of Trish's mouth. She had told him so many different times how sorry she was, but this time, it actually hit Chris that she was sorry. He looked from where she was standing to the water bottle in his hand. The water bottle was still half full of its contents. For the first time in a while he actually started to think about his actions. That hold Trish had on Chris was beginning to get stronger as Chris gripped tightly onto the water bottle. He lifted his hand in the air, about to throw the water bottle when Maryse came up to Chris.

"Hey you." Maryse smirked as she took the bottle from him. "I see you saved me some."

"I sure did." Chris immediately switched personalities. "You're lucky, I was just about to finish it off."

"Why don't we take this some where more private." Maryse raised an eyebrow.

"I like the sound of that." Chris smirked as he took the water bottle and took another gulp of the contents.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy and Paul sat in the middle of the classroom as they waited for class to being. They were in their sixth with big smirks on their faces. They both had gotten to class a bit earlier then the rest of the students and the teacher. They had made sure that someone in the room would tell on them. The two lucked out when Kurt had walked in on them doing what they were doing. Kurt told them not to do it, but they didn't listen to him. Kurt sighed and sat down in his desk as he waited for the teacher. A few minutes after, the teacher arrived in class. They were in science class.

"Good afternoon Mr. Holmes." Randy and Paul said at the same time.

"Levesque, Orton." Mr. Holmes didn't bother to look up at the two.

They sat in their seats with their hands folded and big smirks on their face. Class had begun and Mr. Holmes collected the homework that was due. He then placed the papers on his desk and started talking about the discussion that they had yesterday. Once he was finished with that, he went to the white board. He looked for a dry erase marker but couldn't find one. He then went to his desk where a huge blown up condom popped out of the drawer when he opened it. The condom had a happy face on it and read "Mr. Holmes' Lover" on it. Mr. Holmes turn a slight shade of red as he went into another drawer he dug around in the drawer for one of the markers. His hands soon met with a sticky mess. He pulled his hand out from the drawer along with two other condoms filled with a white substance. Mr. Holmes tossed the condoms in the trashed and looked up at the class.

"Who is responsible for this?" Mr. Holmes said angrily.

Paul and Randy smirked at each other as they both looked down at their desk to avoid eye contact. Paul looked over at Kurt who was raising his hand. Paul smirked, everything was going as planed.

"You did this Angle?" Mr. Holmes glared at him.

"No, I didn't." Kurt answered. "Paul and Randy did it. I saw them!"

"Thanks for ratting on us Twerp." Paul smirked.

"Orton and Levesque, get out of my classroom now!" Mr. Holmes spoke. "And you both have detention."

"Thanks Mr. Holmes." Randy replied as he followed Paul out the classroom.

Both guys exited the classroom not sure where to go. He didn't say where, so they just roamed the halls. They both stopped at Paul's locker and looked at each other. A huge smirked formed on both of their faces and they high five each other.

"Mission accomplished." They both said at the same time.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please review.

Citcat


	42. Detention Gone Wrong

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 42: Detention Gone Wrong

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie, Stacey, Candice and Trish sat around in Stephanie's room hanging out. They all had decided to hang out after school. That way, so when Paul and Randy came over with the news about Chris, they all would know. All the girls hoped that Paul would be able to talk to Chris. This was with the exception of Candice, because she wasn't exactly sure what was going on with the Chris thing.

"I love your room Steph." Candice said looking around at all of Stephanie's things.

"Thanks, me too." Stephanie smiled as she jumped on her bed.

"Her bed is the best part!" Stacy stated as she fell onto Stephanie's large queen sized bed.

"Yeah, it's so comfortable." Trish spoke sitting down on the opposite side of Stephanie.

"Let me try." Candice replied as she laid down on the width of the bed, as the other girls were laying long ways. "Yeah, it is comfortable. I could just fall asleep here."

"That's why I love it." Stephanie answered. "It's the best place to sleep."

After Stephanie's statement, Trish looked over at Stephanie. She quickly got off the bed with a look of disgust on her face.

"Trish, what's wrong?" Stacy asked as she looked over at Trish.

"That bed is contaminated!" Trish said in a jokingly way.

"Huh?" Stephanie was confused yet again for the second time this day.

"EW!!" Candice and Stacy said in unison as they both jumped off the bed.

"Have you even changed the sheets?" Trish asked.

"Oh my…" Stephanie shook her head. "You three are so immature."

"Talk about immature." Stacy laughed. "You can't keep you hands off of Levesque."

"Yes, the sheets are changed." Stephanie rolled her eyes with a smile. "And I can control myself, it's Paul that can't."

"Oh sure, and you really put up a fight against it." Stacy smirked sitting back down on the bed.  
"So, what if I don't." Stephanie blushed. "It's amazing."

"Ok, enough about sex." Candice spoke up.

"Thank you Candice." Trish smiled.

"How long do you think detention is going to take?" Stephanie questioned.

"I'm not sure, I think it's only an hour long." Trish answered.

"I wonder what they all are doing." Stacy wondered aloud.

XoxoxoxoX

Detention had begun and everyone that had detention minus Paul and Randy were in the room. This also included Chris. He was sitting in his normal spot in the back corner with Maryse, Christian and Tyson. They were all talking and laughing and joking around. Chris looked up as he noticed the door to detention open. He rolled his eyes as he watched Paul and Randy walk in. They walked over to the teacher that was observing the room. They checked in and turned around and saw Chris staring at them. Randy gulped as he was reminded of the last incident that took place between himself and Chris. Randy was indeed a bit scared of Chris. Paul sat down a few seats away from Chris and his little group. Randy followed suit and sat next to Paul.

"He's not going to talk to you." Randy whispered. "He's with his little buddies."

"I have to try." Paul sighed. "I just have to."

Paul stood up from his seat and walked over to Chris. He stood there waiting for Chris to acknowledge his presence. Jericho knew he was standing right next to him, but he wasn't going to say anything. For all he cared, he'd let him stand there the entire detention. Paul cleared his throat, which caught Maryse's attention.

"Why hello." Maryse licked her lips seductively. "Can I help you?"

"I need to talk to Chris." Paul stated not even giving Maryse the time of day.

"Aw, you don't want to talk to me?" Maryse play pouted.

"I have a girlfriend." Paul stated firmly. "Chris, can we talk?"

"What do you want to talk to him about?" Christian questioned stopping Maryse from continuing her conversation.

"I just do." Paul spoke.

"Why don't you go talk to your boyfriend over there." Tyson stated going through his cell phone.

"Jericho we need to talk." Paul said sternly.

"What the hell do you want?" Chris asked getting annoyed with Paul's consistency.

"Can we talk over there in private?" Paul asked.

"Whatever." Chris stood up and walked over to the opposite corner of the room away from everyone.

"What's going on?" Paul questioned.

"Nothing." Chris answered not looking at Paul.

"Something must be going on." Paul said. "You attacked Randy, you haven't been talking to any of us, hell your own cousin hasn't even heard from you."

"What are you getting at?" Chris sighed and yawned at the same time.

Paul looked at Chris. He knew that smell all too well. Chris was drunk or had been drinking. He could smell it on Jericho badly. He was shocked that the detention teacher hadn't picked up on it, but then again the teacher didn't really seem to care what was going on. People had their headphones and cell phones out. Paul shook his head trying not to get off track of his goal.

"Dude, you know this isn't right." Paul said lowly. "You got family and friends that love you. You don't have to be like them."

"Be like them?" Chris shook his head. "So I'm a 'them' now?"

"That's not what I meant." Paul sighed. "They are just trouble."

"Well, they are my friends." Chris said firmly. "My real friends."

"What did we ever do to you?" Paul questioned.

"What's it matter." Chris spoke knowing full well that Paul had a point.

"Some friends you have there." Paul rolled his eyes. "They get you drunk and get you into detention."

"Look who's talking." Chris chuckled sarcastically. "I'm sure Randy didn't get here on his own."

"We're only here because we care about you!" Paul said a bit loudly.

"Well, don't!" Chris fired back. "I don't need you guys in my life."

"You don't mean that." Paul stated.

"Yeah, I do." Chris let loose. "Those guys over there, they get me. They understand me. All three of them listen to me. Hell, Maryse took me in when I got kicked out. Where the hell were you? So, before you go talking about who my real friends are, why don't you ask yourself that question."

"Chris, you know you could have come to my place." Paul stated not knowing that Chris had been kicked out.

"Just get your own life and stay out of mine." Chris said turning his back.

"It's only a matter of time before they screw you over." Paul started. "Like you screwed us over."

"Excuse me?" Chris turned around anger in his eyes.

"How long do you think your slut will stay faithful to you?" Paul questioned hitting a nerve. "Didn't you hear her hitting on me?"

"Shut up!" Chris said gritting his teeth.

"She'll screw you over too." Paul replied hoping to get a reaction out of Chris.

Paul did get a reaction, but not the one he hoped for. Chris lunged at Paul a punching him square in the jaw. Jericho kept throwing swings at Paul left and right while they were on the floor. Paul could barely fight back because of the way Chris was fighting him. Levesque could barely block Chris' punches. Randy sat there in shock not quite sure what to do. He knew he should have gotten in the middle, but he didn't want to get his throat slashed. The teacher looked up as he heard all the commotion going on. The teacher ran out the room to get help. While the teacher was gone, unnoticed to everyone else the guys continued to fight. Randy finally taking a stand went to grab Chris off of Paul. Tyson pulled Randy back raising his fist to him. Randy quickly backed down. He knew how to fight, and he would have fought Tyson, but he didn't need anymore drama happening while Chris and Paul were fighting. Chris stood up leaving Paul on the floor. Paul started coughing up blood as he tried to stand up to regain his composure. Chris turned around and looked at Paul. It was as if Chris seen red when he looked at Paul. Jericho had snapped. Chris pulled out his pocket knife as he looked at Paul.

"I told you all to leave me the hell alone!" Chris spoke deeply.

With that said Chris attacked Paul one last time. As Paul was hunched over still trying to catch his breath, Chris took the knife and jabbed it in Paul's side. Paul yelled out in pain as the teacher and a few others came back into the room. Levesque had dropped to the ground holding his side in the fetal position. The teachers all ran over to Paul who was lying on the ground. Chris stood there looking at Paul helpless on the ground. The knife feel out of Chris' hand as he stared at what he had just done. He couldn't believe that he had just stabbed Paul Levesque. Jericho watched as everyone huddled around Paul and the teachers went to his aid. He watched his once best friend lying on the floor coughing up blood and blood also spilled from his side. It was as if a transformation took over and he was the old Chris. Jericho took a step closer to Paul, or at least he tried to. Randy stepped in front of him.

"I think you've done enough." Randy said pushing Chris away.

Chris didn't even say anything. All he did was step backwards until he bumped into Christian. Maryse instantly grabbed onto his arm. Chris and Randy's eyes locked. They had a stare down. As Randy stared into Chris' eyes, he swore he could have seen the old Chris coming back. He couldn't be too sure though. Not that it would matter. Chris just dug his own grave and it was pretty deep. Chris heard the sirens and looked at Maryse. He grabbed Maryse by the hand and took off out of the classroom.

XoxoxoxoX

Even though it was winter time, the girls were alone inside Stephanie's house with only jean short shorts and bikini tops on. They all had gone through Stephanie's closet and were just being crazy. They all put the same thing on and turned the radio on downstairs in the massive living room. The song "Man I Feel Like A Woman" by Shania Twain came on the stereo. All four girls began singing along to the music as they danced around. They were having a blast singing, dancing and laughing around. There was a knock on the door and Stephanie ran to the door. She opened it wide open and came face to face with Randy.

"Hey!" Stephanie smiled giving Randy a hug.

"Hey." Randy took a deep breath.

"Where's Paul?" Stephanie questioned looking behind Randy. "Wait, did he get through to Chris?"

"Steph…" Randy choked.

"He's hanging out with Chris isn't he?" Steph stated with a smile. "I knew he could get through to him."

"No, Steph…" Randy was cut off.

"Hey girls…" Steph yelled. "Paul got through to Chris."

"Steph, Chris stabbed Paul." Randy finally said getting Stephanie's attention. "Paul's in the hospital."

Stephanie's head did a quick turn as she looked away from where the girls were and straight to Randy. She locked eyes with Randy as her heart stopped. Trish, Candice and Stacey all got to the door right as Randy had said those words. It was dead silent as they all stood there in shock.

XoxoxoxoX

I hope you all liked this chapter. Sorry for the long awaited chapter. Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks

Citcat


	43. Guess Who's Back

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 43: Guess Who's Back

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

All four girls and Randy sat in the waiting room waiting to see Paul. After Randy had broke the news to the girls, they barely waited. Stephanie had grabbed her keys from the table next to the door and ran out to her car. Stacy and Trish followed suit getting into Stephanie's car. Trish barely half way into the car when Stephanie took off down the street. Randy got back into his own car followed by Candice and they headed down to the hospital. None of the girls had even thought to change or grab a jacket. So, they were all at the hospital in the middle of winter in bikini tops and jean short shorts. Candice was the only one covered, because Randy had given her his jacket.

"What the hell is taking so long?" Stephanie sighed as she paced back and forth.

"Steph, they are his parents and sister." Trish reminded her. "They are his family."

"Give them some time with their son." Stacy stated.

"But they've been in there forever." Stephanie frowned. "When do I get to see him."

"Steph, they've only been in there for five minutes." Randy responded. "You'll get to see him soon."

"Soon isn't coming fast enough." Stephanie sighed as she sat in between Stacy and Trish.

Trish and Stacy both leaned into Stephanie giving her a hug. They all knew that Paul was ok, but Steph had to see him for herself to know that he was ok. Stephanie leaned her head on Stacy's shoulder and Trish rubbed Stephanie's back for comfort. Trish and Stacy were also wanting to see Paul, but they knew why Steph was taking it so bad. Candice watched as all three girls embraced each other. As much as they included her in everything, she still felt a bit left out. They were the awesome threesome. They didn't need a fourth wheel. Candice looked over at Randy and told him she was going to use the restroom. She got up and headed down the hall where the bathroom was. She entered and seen the woman that had warned her about Stacy.

"What brings you here?" She spoke to Candice washing her hands.

"My friend was hurt." Candice looked at her taking in her uniform. "You work here?"

"I volunteer." She smirked. "Oh, so Stacy is hurt? It's about time someone taught her a lesson."

"It's not Stacy." Candice stated. "What's your problem with her?"

"It's only a matter of time before she takes him from you." She replied.

"She wouldn't do that to me." Candice said reassuringly. "We talked about it."

"Oh, I think she would." She laughed. "You don't know her the way I do."

"Oh, and you know her a whole lot?" Candice questioned.

"Yeah, I do." She smirked as another worker walked in.

"Hayley, your break is up." Jade stated to her friend.

"Ok, I'm coming." Hayley smiled and then turned to Candice. "I'm her cousin."

With that said, Hayley left the bathroom. Candice looked on where Hayley was once standing. She hadn't heard anything about Hayley before. It was odd to Candice too because she never really saw Hayley. For being cousins you'd assume that they would hang out. Candice realize that she was missing the history between Stacy and Hayley that also included her boyfriend Randy Orton.

XoxoxoxoX

Once Candice had left to go to the bathroom the Levesque family walked into the waiting room. They smiled at Stephanie giving her the ok to go and see him. Stephanie practically ran to Paul's room just to see him. Stacy and Randy slightly laughed at Stephanie. The Levesque family left to go back home to retrieve some things for Paul that he asked for. Once the Levesque's left, it was just Stacy and Randy in the waiting room. Randy moved from his spot and went and sat by Stacy. He looked at the weak smile on Stacy's face. Randy could tell she was trying to hold it in. Orton slowly put his arm around Stacy's shoulder to comfort her. Stacy then leaned her head on Randy's shoulder as she began to cry. Candice had walked around the corner and was standing by the window to the waiting room. She watched as Randy had put his arm around Stacy and Stacy lean her head on Randy's shoulder. Candice shook her head as she watched. They were sitting there and it didn't look like they were moving. She began to think about what Hayley had said to her on her first day at Greenwich High. It made Candice sick to her stomach, so she turned around and left the hospital.

"Stace, he's fine." Randy reassured her.

"I know." Stacy began to cry.

"Then why the tears?" Randy questioned.

"He could have died." Stacy sniffled. "On Chris' behalf."

"But he didn't." Randy stated. "He's still here with us."

"I'm worried for Chris." Stacy replied. "He's going to end up in jail."

"Chris has picked his path." Randy answered. "We can't force him to change."

"I know, but how do you just through nine years down the drain." Stacy cried. "It's like he doesn't even care that we were his best friends."

"Chris isn't in the right state of mind." Randy explained. "Maybe one day he'll come back around."

"I hope so." Stacy sighed. "He was a really good friend."

"You know, even if he doesn't come around you've got the girls." Randy smiled. "Paul and me too."

"I know." Stacy gave Randy a weak smile as she sat up. "Thanks Randy."

"You don't have to thank me." Randy replied wiping Stacy's tears away with his thumbs.

Stacy looked at Randy as he continued to wipe her tears away. Randy smiled at her as his hands lightly lingered on Stacy's face. As they sat there in the waiting room their eyes locked. Randy looked deep into Stacy's brown as they were red from her tears. He wanted to make her tears go away. Stacy stared into Randy's blue eyes wondering what he was thinking and doing. They were sitting this way for a good five minutes, just staring at one another. Randy never once say Stacy break the eye contact or move, so he leaned in taking his chance. Randy slowly kissed Stacy square on the mouth. Stacy quickly pulled away from Randy.

"What are you doing?" Stacy questioned with shock as she stood up.

"I thought you wanted me to." Randy stated putting his hands up.

"What made you think that?" Stacy asked.

"You didn't move and you were looking right back at me." Randy responded.

"Randy, you're with Candice." Stacy shook her head. "I'm with Andrew."

"I know." Randy replied putting his head down. "I'm sorry."

"Candice really likes you." Stacy sighed as she went and sat back down by Randy.

"I know she does." Randy answered standing up and walking away from Stacy.

"Then why'd you kiss me?" Stacy questioned.

"Isn't it obvious Stace?" Randy asked turning and looking at Stacy. "I like Candice, I really do. I like Candice a lot."

"I don't understand." Stacy exclaimed as she walked back over to Randy.

"I'm in love with you!" Randy revealed. "It's always been you Stacy."

"Randy, I told you not now." Stacy shook her head. "We had this talk already."

"Yeah, I know." Randy said. "But I can't help how I feel about you Stacy. I can't just not be in love with you."

"I can't do it." Stacy spoke sadly. "Not to Candice and not to Andrew."

"I know." Randy ran a hand over his head.

"Maybe later on down the road." Stacy tried to reassure Randy.

"Maybe isn't so reassuring to me." Randy responded looking at Stacy.

"I'm sorry Randy." Stacy replied giving him a hug. "I'm just not ready to take that chance with you again and lose you forever."

"You wont." Randy explained. "You could never lose me."

"I can't hurt Candice or Andrew." Stacy rubbed Randy's back. "If it's meant to be, it will be."

"I understand." Randy sighed as he pulled out of the hug. "Things aren't going to be awkward between us now is it?"

"Not if you make it awkward." Stacy smiled as she and Randy sat down next to each other.

Randy felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and noticed the text from Candice. He read the text and then shut his phone without responding. Orton thought that he should respond, but at the moment he didn't feel like talking to Candice. With Paul being in the hospital and what just happened with Stacy, he thought it was best not to reply. Randy made a mental note to himself to talk to Candice later. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked over at Stacy.

"Who was it?" Stacy asked.

"Candice just telling me that she's going back to your place." Randy stated.

"Ok." Stacy nodded her head as they began talking while waiting for Trish or Steph to get back.

XoxoxoxoX

When Stephanie reached Paul's room she hesitated before she walked in. She was scared to see what she was about to see. Steph had seen many movies and read enough books to know that, when a person was in the hospital, it didn't look pretty. Stephanie took a deep breath as she walked through the closed curtain. A look of confusion came on her face as she didn't see Paul in his bed. She was almost about to panic when she saw Paul walk out of the bathroom located in his room. Steph breathed a sigh of relief as Paul gave her a small smile. He slowly walked back over to his bed and got back in. He sat up a bit, his eyes never leaving Stephanie. Her heart raced as she saw him. He didn't look as bad as she thought he would look.

"I'm not contagious." Paul smirked. "You can come sit over."

"Yeah, but you do bite." Stephanie weakly smiled.

"I don't bite…" Paul grinned. "Hard."

"You're in a hospital bed and you're still perverted." Stephanie shook her head.

"It's only when you're around." Paul winked at her.

"Shut up!" Steph giggled. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that you're here." Paul stated as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you." Stephanie frowned. "You don't deserve this."

"Don't be sorry." Paul took her hand into his. "I was just trying to help get our friend back."

"He's not my friend nor my cousin." Stephanie said firmly. "I hate him!"

"Steph…" Paul was cut off.

"I'll kill him the next time I see him." Stephanie said lowly.

"No you wont and you don't hate him." Paul squeezed Steph's hand.

"Yes I do, look what he did to you." Stephanie started to get teary eyed. "He could have taken you from me."

"We don't have to be his friend anymore." Paul started. "But, there is no way we can hate him."

"So you're telling me that you don't hate him for what he did to you?" Stephanie questioned confused.

"I don't hate him." Paul said honestly. "I strongly dislike him at the moment."

"You're too nice." Steph replied.

"I never said that I'd forgive him so easily." Paul stated as he looked Steph in her eyes.

"Are you pressing charges?" Stephanie asked.

"No, I'm not." Paul shut his eyes knowing Stephanie would flip.

"Are you serious?" Stephanie looked at Paul like he was crazy. "He fucking stabbed you and beat the shit out of you and you aren't going to press charges?"

"What good is it going to do Steph?" Paul asked her. "It wont phase him if he ends up in jail."

"You don't know that." Steph replied. "So you're just going to let him go free."

"He'll come around and realize what he did." Paul responded. "I almost got to him."

"Key word, almost." Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"Steph, I got him to beat my ass." Paul started. "Though that wasn't my intention, but at least I know I struck a nerve."

"What nerve did you hit that would cause him to beat the shit out of you?" Stephanie questioned sarcastically.

"I told him his little slut was going to screw him over like he screwed us over." Paul said not thinking about what he was about to say. "I told him that he didn't even realize her hitting on me while I was trying to get his attention."

"SHE WHAT!?!" Stephanie screeched.

"Aw, Steph…" Paul realized what he had just done.

"I'll kill her too." Stephanie's cheeks turned a light shade of red.

"Steph, don't drop to Jericho's level." Paul spoke letting go of her hand. "I don't need to lose you again too."

"I'm sorry." Stephanie looked down as she took Paul's hand back.

"You don't have anything to worry about." Paul reassured Stephanie. "I told her that I had a girlfriend."

"You better have." Stephanie smiled at him.

"Oh, and what if I hadn't?" Paul questioned.

"Well, you wouldn't have gotten one of these." Stephanie smirked kissing him.

Paul instantly kissed Stephanie back not wanting it to end. The moment while he was laying on the classroom floor he thought he was going to lose Stephanie. He was thankful that he hadn't died right there. Paul being the degenerate that he is smirked under Stephanie's kiss as his left hand went up the side and under her shirt. Stephanie quickly put away from Paul and sat back down in the chair and swatting at Paul gently.

"I can't believe you." Stephanie shook her head with a smile.

"I told you…" Paul smirked. "It's only when you're around."

"You're such a perv." Stephanie rolled her eyes with a giggle.

"But I'm your perv." Paul said as he took Stephanie's hand back into his.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish walked down to the cafeteria to get something to drink. She walked into the cafeteria and looked at the selection of drinks. She was unsure of which one she wanted. After standing there for a few minutes she grabbed a water. Trish went over and paid for it and left the cafeteria. She was on her way back to the waiting room when she seen a male at a nurse's station. He was wearing a hoodie with the hood over his head. She over heard him asking for Paul Levesque's room. Trish walked over to the guy and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and came face to face with Trish.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here." Trish sneered at Chris.

"Trish, you have to let me see him." Chris practically begged.

"Why, so you can cut him again?" Trish rolled her eyes.

"Can you please be quiet about that." Chris said quietly taking Trish to the side away from the nurse's station. "I screwed up."

"You more then screwed up." Trish shook her head. "How the hell did you even manage to do it?"

"I don't know." Chris stated. "I wasn't being me."

"You expect myself and everyone else to buy that?" Trish asked.

"You got to let me see him Trish." Chris begged again. "Please."

"Why should I?" Trish asked.

"I need to make it right." Chris spoke. "I need to apologize."

"I don't think an apology is going to fix this." Trish said walking away from Chris.

Chris watched as Trish started to leave and walk away. He felt bad for the things he had done. It was like once he stabbed Paul, reality struck him. Taking in the fact that he almost killed a person, let alone it be his best friend he changed almost instantly. Though the change was coming after the talk he had with Trish. Then Chris remembered one of the many things Trish had told Chris earlier the same day. She was half way down the hall way and she was waiting for the elevator. This was his chance. He needed to make amends with Paul first before any of his friends. He quickly ran down to the elevator where Trish awaited the elevator. Once he got there Trish was standing in the elevator and the doors were about to close.

"You said I could come to you for anything no matter what I've done or what time of day." Chris spoke a bit out of breathe. "Trish, please."

Trish's eyes widen a bit from Chris' words. He had been paying attention to her. She bit her lip as the doors were closing more and more. Trish looked at the look on Chris' face as the doors continued to shut. The face he wore tore at Trish's heart. He looked sad, upset, guilty and many more mixed emotions. Trish shut her eyes as she pressed the open door button. Chris breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped into the elevator.

"Thank you Trish." Chris stated looking at her.

"Don't thank me." Trish sighed not looking at Chris. "You brought this all onto yourself."

"Is he ok?" Chris question as the elevator started to go up to the 5th floor.

"Yeah, he's fine." Trish replied. "But you may not be."

"I'm already screwed up." Chris responded. "What more could happen to me?"

"Stephanie could happen to you." Trish stated as the doors opened. "You aren't exactly her favorite person."

"You have to talk to her." Chris pleaded. "I don't want to die."

"But you can try and kill your best friend?" Trish shook her head. "You dug this grave, so you can dig yourself out."

Trish walked out of the elevator and headed towards the waiting room where Randy and Stacy were sitting by themselves. She sighed as Chris followed behind her. Today was going to be a long day. She could only hope that things didn't take a turn of the worse.

XoxoxoxoX

Thank you to all my readers. Also a big thanks to all my reviewers from the last chapter. I really loved the reviews and they inspired me to write this next chapter. Please keep the awesome reviews coming and I'll be sure to update sooner rather then later.

Citcat


	44. Making Things Right Maybe Not

_Title: Growing Up_

_Chapter 44: Making Things Right… Maybe Not_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize._

_A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers. _

_XoxoxoxoX_

_Trish walked into the waiting room where Randy and Stacy were sitting. She sighed knowing that their would soon be either an argument or dead awkward silence. Looking over her shoulder she noticed that Chris' hadn't fully walked into the waiting room. He was unnoticed to Stacy and Randy. Trish shook her head as she looked back towards her two friends._

"_Where's Candice?" Trish questioned walking further into the waiting room._

"_She's went home." Randy replied looking up at Trish._

_That's when Randy noticed Chris slightly behind Trish following her. Randy quickly stood up and pulled Trish behind him. Orton quickly made sure that both girls were safely behind him. The look Chris got from Randy would have killed him if it could. Randy's eyes were cold and stared daggers into Chris. Trish was taken back a little bit by Randy's actions, but she understood why. If the guy that stabbed one of her friends she would have done the same thing Randy had done. Chris stopped dead in his tracks as Randy stood between the girls and himself. Chris raised his hands slowly above his head, getting a reaction out of Randy to step forwards in a defense stance. Stacy just stood there watching everything transpire before her eyes. She was indeed speechless. Trish on the other hand took hold of Randy's arm gently convincing Randy to let Chris continue to do what he was doing. Randy reluctantly put his arms down from the defensive position he was in. Chris nodded in a thankful way to Trish. Jericho then began to take his hood off from his head. Once his head was uncovered, he put both his arms down back to his sides._

"_What are you doing here?" Randy questioned clearly not in the best of moods with Jericho._

"_I came to see Paul." Chris spoke not removing his eyes from Randy._

"_You really think that we'd let you see him?" Randy laughed sarcastically. "You've got to be kidding me."_

"_Trish didn't see a problem in it." Chris replied moving his eyes to Trish._

"_Are you serious?" Randy stated directing his question towards Trish._

"_I couldn't just tell him no." Trish responded honestly. "He used my own words against me."_

"_Well, she may have said yes." Randy began. "But I can say no."_

"_So can I." Stacy piped in for the first time. "I can also bet you that Steph doesn't want to see you either."_

"_You guys, just give him a chance to make things right." Trish pleaded. _

"_Trish, are you even aware of what's been happening the last few hours?" Stacy asked._

"_Yes, I'm aware of everything." Trish explained. "We owe it to him to make things right."_

"_I can't believe you are saying this." Randy shook his head._

"_Trish, you're only sticking up for him.." Stacy continued. "Because you're still in love with him."_

"_I can't believe you of all people would go there." Trish turned and glared at Stacy._

"_It's the truth." Stacy spoke. "Why else would you give a guy who almost killed your best friend a second chance to redeem himself?"_

"_Stace…" Randy trialed off. "Cut it out."_

"_No, Randy, let her be." Trish begun. "She has a point, but she should try listening to her own words."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Stacy questioned meeting Trish's eyes._

"_It means you should stop lying to yourself and Randy about you're feelings for him." Trish blurted out. "It's obvious you're in love with him still."_

"_You have no right to go there!" Stacy shrieked in anger._

"_You have no right to go there either!" Trish scoffed._

_Randy and Chris both watched the girls stare each other down. They were both clearly angry with one another for speaking each other's secrets about their loved ones. Stacy bit her bottom lip as Trish flared her nostrils. It was a complete show down between the two ladies. Both men were in shock and a bit confused at the state of being that the two girls were in. They were also curious and confused to know about their emotional feelings that were obviously towards them. Both Randy and Chris tilted their heads slightly as both girls crossed their arms in a huff and sat down their backs to each other and one chair was between them. Chris' back was to the door when Stephanie walked in. She didn't take notice of Chris at first. _

"_What's going on in here?" Stephanie questioned looking at her friends._

"_They are fighting." Randy answered as he looked at Stephanie._

"_About…" Stephanie looked at Randy._

"_I'm not quite sure." Randy motioned to Chris. "He may have something to do with it."_

_Stephanie turned and looked at who Randy was motioning too. Her eyes widen at the sight of Chris standing in front of her. Steph's face turned red as she tried to calm herself down. If it wasn't for Paul, she would have had a few minor words for Chris and she would have attacked him. The only thing that she could think to do was to stick up her nose and turn her back to him. That is exactly what she did along with a flip of her hair. Chris knew he was going to get something like that from Stephanie. Although he thought he was going to get something a lot worse from her. Little did he know, that that was her first intention. If it wasn't for Paul, Chris would probably be in he hospital himself after Stephanie was done with him. _

"_Steph…" Chris was cut off._

"_Don't even speak to me." Stephanie took a deep breath._

_Chris took that as his warning to back off. He sighed as he walked out of the waiting room. He looked around and headed the way to where Paul's room was. Trish had told him what room he was in prior to them getting off the elevator. Chris walked into the nurse's station and looked around at the room numbers. His eyes traveled around until they landed on 5A3. Obviously to Chris the room number meant that he was on the fifth floor, station A and room three. Chris walked over to the room and looked inside. Paul seemed entranced by the small television in his hospital room. Chris took a deep breath before walking into the room and making his presence known._

"_I wasn't expecting to see you here." Paul spoke accepting Jericho's presence. _

"_Look, I'm not here to fight." Chris stated standing in front of Paul's bed._

"_Well, what do you want?" Paul questioned shutting his t.v. off._

_XoxoxoxoX_

_Stephanie quickly forgot about Chris being there. She wasn't going to let him make her day any worse then it already was. She looked at her two friends intently. Trish was sitting towards the window of the waiting room. Her face wore a look of anger. Her eyebrows were slanted inward and her nose was flared. Her lips were in a slight pout form while her arms were crossed. Stephanie slowly turned her head to face Stacy. She shook her head as she looked at Stacy's face. Stacy had her arms folded and was sating at the wall. Her eyes were glaring at the wall and slightly shut. Her eyebrows were inward as well. Stacy's nose was scrunched up like she smelt something bad and she was biting her bottom lip. It almost looked as if she was trying to keep her strong composure up, yet at the same time she looked like she was going to cry. Stephanie sighed at her two friends. They didn't need to be fight right now. She slowly turned around and gave Randy a look._

"_Where am I supposed to go?" Randy questioned._

"_Go keep Paul company." Stephanie answered._

"_I don't want to go when Ch…" Randy was instantly cut off._

"_Don't even say his name around me right now." Stephanie seethed. _

"_I'll just go to the cafeteria." Randy replied leaving the waiting room._

_Stephanie smiled at Randy's willingness to leave. She'd usually have to beg him to leave, but thankfully he didn't put up a fight. She sighed as she walked over to both girls. She sat down in the empty chair that was between them. Neither girl budge or moved an inch. Steph sat there for a moment thinking. She needed a way to get both girls to turn around and face one another. She also needed to get them talking. As she looked from the back of Stacy to Trish she thought of a plan. She could only hope that it would work. Figuring out that this was obviously an important fight, she regretted asking them the one question that would get them arguing again._

"_Will one of you tell me what this fight is about?" Stephanie questioned._

_As if on cue, Stephanie winced as she heard both girls start talking at the same time. Realizing that they both were talking, they began yelling at one another. Stephanie rolled her eyes as they continued to fight. Having enough of it she screamed. Both Trish and Stacy stopped yelling and looked at Stephanie like she was crazy._

"_Don't you guys give me that look." Stephanie stated. "You two are acting just as crazy."_

_There was silence between them again. At least this time they were facing one another. Stephanie sighed as she looked towards Stacy._

"_Tell me your side of the story." Stephanie spoke and held a finger up to Trish instructing her to wait her turn._

"_Well, she started it." Stacy began. "Trish left to go get something to drink. When she comes back, she brings the murderer himself. He goes and says he wants to make things right with Paul. I thought and still think that he's lying. Randy agrees with me. Randy was about to beat him up. Then Trish tells Randy to give Chris a chance. We questioned her about it and asked if she was even listening to anything that happened in the past few hours. She said yeah, but that we still need to give him a chance to make things right. So, I called her on it. I said, while both Chris and Randy were in here that the only reason she would give a second chance to a guy that almost killed her best friend was because she was still in love with Chris. Then she had the nerve to say in front of Randy that I was in love with him. She had no right saying that, especially right now." Stacy stopped and looked at Trish. "You don't even know half of what's going on between Randy and I right now."_

"_Well, maybe if yo…" Trish was cut off by Stephanie._

"_Don't respond Trish." Stephanie sighed. "Just tell me your side now."_

"_Everything happened the same way Stacy said." Trish began. "She had no right to bring up the fact that I'm in love with Chris. Not while he was in the same room. So, I did the same to her. I brought it up that she was in love with Randy and that she was trying to hide it."_

"_Two wrongs don't make a right Trish." Stephanie replied._

"_Oh, take her side of course." Trish rolled her eyes._

"_I'm not taking sides." Stephanie answered. "I'm just making a point and trying to clear this up."_

"_Whatever!" Trish crossed her arms again._

"_Why didn't you want Stacy saying what she said?" Stephanie questioned._

"_Chris seemed to be changing." Trish responded. "I didn't want to scare him off by reminding him that I was still in love with him… again."_

"_Again?" Stephanie looked on curiously._

"_I talked to Chris earlier today." Trish sighed. "I told him off and told him I still loved him and always would."_

"_Ok, so I understand why you didn't want her to say anything." Stephanie looked over at Stacy. "And your reason?"_

"_Things are just really complicated between Randy and I." Stacy sighed feeling remorseful towards Trish. "I don't need his feelings getting hurt worse then they already are."_

"_What do you mean?" Stephanie asked a tiny bit confused._

"_Randy kissed me right before Trish came back with Chris." Stacy sighed. "He told me he was in love with me. As much as I care for and love him, I just can't take that next step with him just yet. I really don't want to hurt Candice or Andrew either. Maybe if things were different. As in, he wasn't with Candice and I wasn't with Andrew. I really like Andrew and Candice, and I don't want to hurt them. So, when Randy told me he was in love with me, I told him just that. Then Trish made it loud and clear that I'm in love with him. Now he's probably more confused then ever and getting his chances up."_

_Both girls looked at Stacy who let a few tears slip down her cheek. Stephanie frowned at the sight. She instantly hugged Stacy. Trish looked down at her hands. She felt bad now for saying what she said. Trish didn't know that things were that difficult with Randy and Stacy. Trish looked up at Stacy with a frown on her face._

"_I'm sorry Stace." Trish went to join the hug._

"_No, I'm sorry." Stacy replied. "I shouldn't have said the things I said either."_

"_I'm sorry too." Stephanie smirked._

"_Huh?" Trish and Stacy looked at Stephanie together._

"_You both were hogging the spotlight." Stephanie giggled then a look of worry crossed her face._

"_Steph?" Stacy questioned._

"_What's wrong?" Trish asked following Steph's gaze._

_Stephanie's eyes watched Chris through the window. He had just dashed from the nurse's station. She knew he had gone to go talk to Paul. Chris looked scared and frantic, as if he had done something wrong. He repeatedly pressed the elevator button as if it would come any faster. Feeling eyes on him, he looked towards his left and noticed Stephanie, Stacy and Trish watching him. Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead. The elevator was taking way too long for his liking. He cursed himself and ran for the stairs and left the building._

"_Something isn't right." Stephanie stated standing out of her chair._

_Without a second thought she ran out the waiting room and towards Paul's room. She needed to see him and make sure he was ok. The way Chris left rubbed off on Stephanie the wrong way. Trish and Stacy followed suit behind Trish. Right before they had ran out the waiting room Randy got off the elevator. He tilted his a little bit and followed the girls to Paul's room. Once they got to Paul's room, Stephanie was right at his side holding his hand. Paul looked like he had seen a ghost. Stephanie waved her hand in front of Paul's face to knock him out of his trance. Paul shook his head as he looked around the room. His eyes scanned the room looking for Chris. He only saw Trish, Stacy and Randy. Paul sighed and took a deep breath. He looked straight at Stephanie when he spoke._

"_He just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to press charges."_

_XoxoxoxoX_

_That's it for this chapter. Thanks again so much for all the reviews that I got. They really make me happy and inspire me to continue my chapters at a quicker pace. If reviews keep up at this pace, I could be updating everyday._

_Thank you again._

_Citcat_


	45. Epiphany Taking Over

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 45: Epiphany Taking Over

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Tuesday morning came by rather quickly. Everyone had gone home to get rest and to go to school the next day. Stephanie put up a rather long fight in not going home, but Paul some how managed to convince her to head home. He told her that she would be his source for staying caught up in school. Sadly, Stephanie agreed to Paul's wants. She would have much rather stayed by his side, but she knew she wouldn't win that fight. As for Trish, she went home on her own will. She felt terrible about what had happened. Chris had fooled her. He had played with her emotions so he could get to Paul. Only to turn around and run off after he knew Paul wouldn't press charges. Once that happened, Trish instinctively put her walls up. She wouldn't let Chris break her again. Stacy had also gone home. By the time she got home Candice was already sleeping. Stacy really wanted to talk to Candice about what had happened. She felt horrible about what took place at the hospital the other night. She had decided to talk to her the next day rather then waking her up. Randy had gone straight home thinking about what Stacy had told him and what Trish had said. He was more confused then ever. Stacy had told him not now, and Randy believed her. He wasn't going to doubt her. Randy had decided to just drop it and move on with the next day. As for Chris, he never went back to Maryse's place. He stayed out all night just walking around.

XoX

Chris sighed as he sat in the principal's office waiting. The principal had caught him at his locker and practically dragged Chris to her office. Mrs. Heartman, the principal told Chris to wait in her office while she took care of a previous arrangement. Jericho knew this was bound to happen. He was just wondering what was going to happen to him next. The thought of expulsion came into his head. Questions began forming in his head. What would he do? Where would he go for the better part of the day? What would his family think? The school was more then likely to contact them even though he was kicked out. Chris ran a hand over his head as he looked towards the door opening. Mrs. Heartman walked in shutting the door behind her. She walked over to her desk and sat down. She folded her hands on top of the desk and looked at Chris. It was almost a complete stare down between Chris and Mrs. Heartman. They both knew why Chris was here. The only question that remained was Chris' punishment. Mrs. Heartman had only heard what was going around school and was informed by the teachers. The only way to get the real story would to be to talk with Paul. Though talking to Paul was simply out of the question for the time being. She sighed as she began the conversation.

"What's going on with you Chris?" Mrs. Heartman spoke up.

"Nothin'." Chris answered in some form of slang.

"You used be such a good student." She shook her head.

"Key words…" Chris began. "Used to be."

"I can see that you don't want to talk." Mrs. Heartman continued. "So I'll just get right to the point."

"And your point is?" Chris rolled his eyes not caring.

"After the actions that took place yesterday…" Mrs. Heartman paused for a moment. "I'd have to expel you from school. But, with lack of evidence, I can't do that."  
"Lack of evidence?" Jericho questioned.

"From the students in detention with you yesterday." Mrs. Heartman began. "Half of them said you stabbed Paul and the other half said you didn't. Neither teacher witnessed you stabbing Paul, that is if you did."

"So, now what happens." Chris questioned again.

"I don't know what to do with you Chris." Mrs. Heartman looked down. "I think I'm going to have to call your parents."

"Not like they would care." Chris said sarcastically. "They kicked me out."

"Is that why you're acting this way?" Mrs. Heartman asked.

"It's none of your business." Chris rolled his eyes.

"You're dismissed Jericho." Mrs. Heartman replied. "But, I've got my eye on you."

"Whatever." Chris responded back as he got out of his seat.

Chris walked out of the office and made his way down the halls. He sighed as he walked down the hall with Maryse's locker. A smirked formed on Chris' face as he saw Maryse down the hall by her locker with Christian and Tyson. He picked up his speed and hustled down to his "friends". Once he reached them he gave them a head nodded. All three turned and looked at Chris and took a step back.

"Hey guys!" Chris gave a smug smile.

"Uh, hey." The three said at the same time.

"What's going on?" Chris spoke noticing the awkwardness. "Thanks for bringing my bag babe, but why'd you bring both bags?"

Maryse rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. She looked from Christian to Tyson. As much of a bad girl she was, she wasn't insane. Judging by what took place yesterday, Chris had clearly crossed the line for all three of them. Maryse put both of Chris' bags in front of him. Chris looked at the three of his friends confused. He looked in the second bag and noticed all his personal items were in there. It was the bag he had when his parents kicked him out. Chris looked back up shaking his head. He had a feeling what was coming next. Jericho debated on asking the obvious question or not. To him, he had just got the best news from Mrs. Heartman. He wouldn't be getting expelled. His eyes slowly fell on Maryse who looked like she was about to speak.

"I'm sorry Chris…" Maryse trailed off with no hint of remorse.

"What does this mean?" Chris questioned.

"Dude, you're messed up." Tyson replied with a head shake.

"Yeah, we're bad…" Christian began. "But we don't go around stabbing people."

"You took it too far this time Chris." Maryse whispered. "You can't hang with us and you can't stay with me anymore."

"Where am I supposed to go?" Chris looked at the three of his so called friends.

"I don't know." Tyson answered. "But it's not with us."

"We're sorry man." Christian responded. "We don't want to end up like Paul."

With that said Christian, Tyson and Maryse walked down the hall and away from Chris. When they were a bit down the hall, Maryse looked back over her shoulder looking at Chris. As odd as it may have been, Maryse saw herself falling for Chris. She couldn't act on her feelings though. He was far too messed up in the head for her to deal with. She sighed as she turned around and walked in the middle of Christian and Tyson. They both put their arms around her shoulders in comfort. They knew that Maryse had fallen for Chris, but this was for the best. It had always been just the three of them, and that's how it looked like it was going to stay. As the three of them began to turn the corner, Maryse couldn't help but look back at Chris again. He was still standing in the same place staring at them walk off. Another sigh escaped Maryse's lips as she turned back around. She knew in her heart that in the future she'd have a run in with Chris, and if he was different she vowed to make him hers again.

Chris shook his head once the three friends were around the corner and out of sight. He didn't know whether to be angry or upset. The three friends that he had newly confided in had just left him. They left him high and dry when he needed them most. Chris bent down picking up his back pack and putting it on. He then grabbed his other bag and carried it in the grip of his hand. He walked down the hall, the opposite way that the trio had gone. Had he really taken things too far? He couldn't help but repeat that phrase in his head over and over again. As he continued to think of that, his thoughts trailed off to Paul. The one he had stabbed. Levesque was the one who told Chris that Maryse, Tyson and Christian would screw him over sooner or later. It looked as if it was sooner. Chris sighed long and hard as he thought of Paul. He shook his head as he realized that Paul was only trying to help him. Even though he had pushed him away along with his other friends they still tried to help. Why hadn't he seen it before? His true and real friends were there all along but he had to be stupid. Chris had taken the entire Trish cheating on him way too far. He blamed everyone for her mistake. Why hadn't he listened to any of them. Chris came to a stop as he leaned against the wall of lockers. He slipped down to the ground putting his head in his hands recalling what took place yesterday.

_XoXoX Flashback XoXoX_

_Chris took that as his warning to back off. He sighed as he walked out of the waiting room. He looked around and headed the way to where Paul's room was. Trish had told him what room he was in prior to them getting off the elevator. Chris walked into the nurse's station and looked around at the room numbers. His eyes traveled around until they landed on 5A3. Obviously to Chris the room number meant that he was on the fifth floor, station A and room three. Chris walked over to the room and looked inside. Paul seemed entranced by the small television in his hospital room. Chris took a deep breath before walking into the room and making his presence known._

"_I wasn't expecting to see you here." Paul spoke accepting Jericho's presence. _

"_Look, I'm not here to fight." Chris stated standing in front of Paul's bed._

"_Well, what do you want?" Paul questioned shutting his t.v. off._

"_We all know what happened." Chris began. "So, what do you plan on doing?"_

"_I'm not pressing charges Chris." Paul sighed. _

"_Thank God!!" Chris said a wave of relief coming over him._

"_Wait…" Paul thought. "You only came here to see if I was pressing charges didn't you?"_

"_What's it to ya?" Chris rolled his eyes._

"_I can't believe you." Paul shook his head. "I'm in a fucking hospital. Your best friend, in a hospital, and all you care about is seeing if charges are being pressed against you."_

"_Look, we'll just pretend like nothing happened." Chris smirked thinking he was rather smart. "No one has to know about this."_

"_You've got to be fucking kidding me." Paul put his hand to his head. "I can't believe you."_

"_Yeah, well get used to it." Chris ran a hand through his hair._

"_I should have never told Steph not to attack you." Paul said under his breath._

"_Excuse me?" Chris looked over at Paul._

"_Nothing." Paul stated rolling his eyes.  
"Don't send your little friends after me." Chris laughed evilly. "I'll put them in here, just like I did you."_

"_You wouldn't dare." Paul glared looking at Chris._

"_Try me." Chris gave Paul a cocky look. "If Steph even lays a hand on me, I'll be forced to take things into my own hands."_

"_You lay one finger on her and I'll…" Paul was cut off._

"_You'll what…" Chris laughed. "By the time you're out of here I could be gone."_

_Paul glared daggers into Chris as he stood in front of him. Paul wished he could just get out of his bed and beat some sense into Chris. Levesque eyes looked down to his table and noticed an empty food tray sitting there. He grabbed the tray and flung it at Chris' head. It merely missed Chris' head by an inch. Chris' eyes widen at the angry sight of Paul. Not expecting him to react the way he did, he left the room scared and in a hurry to get as far away as possible._

_XoXoX End Flashback XoXoX_

Chris pounded his fist against the locker. He was unsure of what he had become himself. As he continued to think about what he had said to Paul he began to fill bad. He couldn't believe that he said that about his friends. Jericho wished he could take everything back that he had said. A few tears escaped his eyes as he thought about the comment he made about Stephanie. He threatened his own cousin. What kind of person had he turned into? He didn't like it and he wanted to change. This time, he was going to change for good. It would be hard, but he knew he could do it. If changing meant getting his friends back, then he would change. Chris Jericho wanted his old life back and would stop at nothing to get them back. The only questioned remained was: Would they want him back?

XoxoxoxoX

Here is another chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please review and let me know. Thanks again to all my reviewers. Just so you all know, there will be a sequel to this story so anything is bound to happen.

Sorry that this main chapter focused mainly on Chris, but it needed to be done and on here. The next chapter should have more to do with all the friends. Again, please review and let me know what you think.

Citcat


	46. Broken And Worried Hearts

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 46: Broken and Worried Hearts

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

It was the middle of the day. This meant that it was time for the hour break for lunch. Everyone had the same break, but they all had other plans that they had to do. During lunch Chris was trying his hardest to figure out a way to get his friends back. He knew that a simple sorry just wouldn't do. They also obviously didn't trust him. Chris debated trying to talk to Trish, just because he knew she'd forgive him easily, or so he thought. He decided to hold off on talking to Trish. As of right now, he needed to find a place to stay. Jericho wasn't sure if he could go home or not. It wouldn't hurt to try. He couldn't worry about that at the moment. This lunch was his time to think, about what to do. He figured that he'd just go to the hospital after school and talk to Paul. For the time being, Paul was the safest person to talk to. Not just because he seemed to be the voice of reason, but because he was confided to his hospital bed. So that would prevent Paul from lashing out and physically attacking him. Chris got his lunch with the spare money that he had from his job that he still worked at and went outside to eat alone. As he sat down on the steps he looked up at the parking lot. He noticed Trish following Stephanie obviously to Steph's car.

XoxoxoxoX

"Excuse me little missy." Trish stated as she caught up with Stephanie. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, to eat in my car." Stephanie flashed a big grin.

"Where's your food?" Trish questioned getting a kick out of teasing her friend.

"In my car." Stephanie smirked.

"You're leaving to go see Paul aren't you?" Trish asked all to knowingly.

"How could you think such a thing?" Stephanie acted shocked. As if she would do something like that. "Would I really skip school to go see my injured boyfriend?"

"Hell yeah you would." Trish laughed at the look on Stephanie's face.

"Ok, then why are you taking up precious time that I could be spending over there?" Stephanie questioned putting her hands on her hips.

"You know you can't just leave campus." Trish replied watching Stephanie open her car door.

"Yeah I can." Stephanie grinned holding up a pink slip. "Office allows me to."

"You forged your parent's signature?" Trish's eyes widen.

"Not I didn't." Stephanie smirked. "I had Daddy sign a 'homework' assignment."

"You're bad." Trish giggled.

"Nope, just smart." Stephanie raised her eyebrows and got into the drivers side.

"I'm coming with you." Trish responded getting into the passengers side.

"Where is your pink slip?" Stephanie questioned a smirk forming.

"Just shut up and drive." Trish stated shutting the door as Steph started the engine.

"You do know he's going to complain to you." Stephanie said as she backed her car out of the parking lot.

"Why?" Trish asked as she looked out the window.

While Stephanie was backing out the parking lot, Trish's eyes were on the scenery. That's when her eyes fell on Chris when Stephanie was slowly pulling forward to exit the parking lot. He was sitting alone on the steps of the school eating his lunch. Even though there was a rather large distance between them, their eyes met each other. As she looked at Chris, she felt only a tiny bit bad for him. She only felt bad because he was sitting there eating alone. She figured that in due time his little buddies would be joining him. Trish shook her head slowly then turned and faced forward in the car.

"TRISH?!" Stephanie practically yelled.

"What?" Trish looked at Stephanie like she was crazy.

"I was talking to you and you weren't even listening." Stephanie complained pulling onto the main road.

"Oh, sorry." Trish smiled. "What was it?"

"I said that Paul was going to complain because you didn't keep me at school." Stephanie replied looking over her shoulder to switch lanes.

"Well, he shouldn't complain." Trish answered. "His girlfriend went out of her way and pulled all the stops to see him."

"Aw, good one." Stephanie smirked. "I'm going to use that one. Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem."

XoX

Paul sat in his hospital bed watching the t.v. There wasn't much he could really do. He had sent many texts to Stephanie through out the day. She didn't return one. Thinking about her not returning his text messages made him think about what Chris said earlier. The thought of Stephanie being hurt frightened him. Could she be hurt? Had Chris touched her? Paul didn't want to worry any of his friends, so he refrained from telling them what Chris had said. Paul looked down at his phone and pressed 2 and held it down. It automatically dialed Stephanie's number. He knew she was on lunch break, so if she didn't answer now, he'd know something was wrong.

"_Hey, It's me Stephanie. I can't get to the phone right now, but if you leave your name and number I'll return your call. Also, if this is Paul, I love you. Bye!" _

Paul shut his phone without leaving a message. He was clearly upset right now. Stephanie always answered the phone when he called her or sent her text messages. He was really getting worried. Paul quickly looked down at his phone and dialed Randy's number hoping to get the whereabouts of his girlfriend. He didn't need her missing like last time nor Chris hurting her.

"Hello?" Randy questioned over the phone. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Paul replied. "Is Steph around you?"

"No, she's not." Randy said. "I actually haven't seen her all day."

"You haven't?" Paul sighed. "Ok, thanks."

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere." Randy reassured Paul. "Stacy is probably with her as we speak."

"Thanks, I'll try her." Paul stated hanging up the phone.

Paul hated being restrained to this hospital bed. He felt useless and that he couldn't protect Stephanie. His heart sped up as he heard the music of Stacy's dial tone. He waited impatiently as the phone continued to ring. After a short while Stacy answered.

"Hey Paul." Stacy chimed. "What's up?"

"Hey Stace." Paul said into the phone. "Is Steph with you?"

"No, she's not." Stacy frowned. "She wasn't in first period today, so maybe she's at home or just skipped class."

"Ok, thanks." Paul sighed into the phone.

"Did you try Randy?" Stacy questioned.

"Yeah, he said to try you." Paul answered.

"Well, if she's not with Randy or I…" Stacy began. "She has to be with Trish."

"Yeah, I'll try her." Paul responded hanging up the phone after saying bye.

Paul took a deep breath as he dialed Trish's cell phone number. He shut his eyes hoping to get an answer. Levesque needed to make sure that Stephanie was ok and not hurt or anywhere near Chris. As the phone continued to ring, Paul looked up at his door way entrance. He heard the faint sound of Trish's ring tone. His eyes stayed fixated on the door as the music playing got closer. Paul sighed a sigh of relief as he saw Stephanie's bright shinning face walk through the door with Trish behind her.

"Hey you!" Stephanie smiled walking over to Paul and giving him a quick kiss.

"You don't answer your phone anymore?" Paul replied a little mad.

"I was running late this morning…" Stephanie was cut off before she could finish.

"So you couldn't text me in class like you usually do?" Paul looked at her sternly.

"What crawled up your ass this morning?" Stephanie crossed her arms while rolling her eyes and walking towards the door. "I'll just leave."

"Are you ok Paul?" Trish questioned looking him over.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Paul sighed. "Can you go get her please?"

"Yeah, just a sec." Trish replied walking out the door and calling back to Stephanie. "Steph… Come back."

"I know when I'm not wanted." Stephanie pouted. "Especially by my own boyfriend."

"He want's you to come back." Trish sighed. "He asked me to get you for him.

"Fine." Stephanie lowered her eyebrows as she walked back into the room. "What?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just really cranky having to stay in this bed." Paul gave her big puppy dog eyes. "Forgive me please?"

"I don't know." Stephanie turned her head up to him. "You cut me off before I could finish talking."

"You could finish now." Paul reached out for her hand.

"I was running late and I forgot my cell phone." Stephanie spoke turning her head back towards him.

"I'm sorry, I really am." Paul stuck out his lip. "I was just worried about you."

"You were worried about me?" A small smile started to form on her face.

"Yeah, I was." Paul gave her a genuine smile. "I thought you might have been hurt."

"Ok, you're forgiven." Stephanie stated giving him a kiss on the lips.

"You could have told me that you two would be all kissy kissy." Trish started. "Then I would have stayed at school."

"I was trying to leave before you saw me." Stephanie grinned. "It's your own fault."

"Oh whatever." Trish laughed.

"Wait, you're supposed to be in school." Paul looked over at Stephanie.

"It's break." Stephanie gave him an angelic look.

"I don't care, you could be studying." Paul looked at Trish. "You didn't stop her from leaving."

"Told you so." Stephanie laughed alongside Trish.

"What's so funny?" Paul questioned. "Did I miss something?"

"Steph predicted that you'd say something like that." Trish smirked. "I tried to stop her, but I failed. She had her mind set."

"How do you plan on getting back onto campus?" Paul looked at both girls.

"With my pink slips." Stephanie smiled. "That daddy signed oh so willingly."

"He didn't know did he?" Paul shook his head.

"Nope, had no clue." Trish giggled as they all began talking and enjoying the short amount of time that they'd be there for.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy walked into the lounge when he saw Candice sitting on the couch. A smile crept across his face as he walked over to her. He slowly sat down next to her and looked over at what she was doing. She was writing something that looked to be like an essay. Candice looked up and over at Randy when she felt his arm drape around her shoulders. When she looked at him he gave her a big smile. The look on her face showed that she wasn't in the mood and he wondered why.

"What's wrong?" Randy questioned. "Did I do something?"

"I don't know, did you?" Candice eyed him.

"I don't think I did." Randy replied wondering if Stacy had told Candice about the kiss.

"Why don't you just break up with me now." Candice said looking away. "Save me the trouble of getting hurt worse then I already am."

"Excuse me?" Randy didn't know what she was so upset about, but if it was about the kiss then he didn't want to be the one to come out and say it first.

"Why don't you just go date Stacy." Candice replied not bothering to look at him.

"Why would I do that?" Randy questioned. "She's with Andrew and I'm with you."

"For now." Candice mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Randy asked as he looked at Candice.

"It's only a matter of days before she takes you from me." Candice sighed throwing her notebook and pencil down on the table.

"Candice, would you just talk to me?" Randy took notice of her angry state. "Nothing is going on with Stacy and I."

"As of right now, because I'm in the picture." Candice looked at Randy. "She's going to take you from me."

"She's not going to do that." Randy replied as he took a hold of Candice's hands. "She likes you way too much to do that."

"It didn't stop her from doing it to her cousin." Candice said quickly. "What makes you think she wouldn't do it to me?"

"Wait a minute." Randy paused for a minute. "Cousin?"

"Yeah, Hayley." Candice answered. "She told me how it works. Stacy lets you date another girl for a short period of time, and then she stabs the girl in the back and takes you for herself."

"Whoa, you got this all wrong." Randy chuckled to himself.

"I don't see how you can find this funny." Candice took her hands from him.

"Candice, you don't know the full story." Randy began. "Hayley is Stacy's cousin who lived with her for a while. Hayley made moves on me and I was dumb and followed through with her moves and kissed her when she kissed me. Stacy found out about it and we broke up. Then Hayley spread rumors about Stacy being pregnant and it tore Stacy and I further apart."

"Oh…" Candice looked down feeling bad for assuming. "So Stacy genuinely likes me?"

"Yeah, she does." Randy smiled at her. "Hell, she must love you if she took you in."

"Wow, I guess it's a good thing that I talked to you first." Candice semi smiled. "So you aren't going to leave me for her."

"Yeah, it is a good thing." Randy replied as he quickly changed topics. "How did you know about Hayley?"

"What do you mean?" Candice questioned. "Hayley came up to me and told me everything."

"I don't see how." Randy looked around the lounge. "She doesn't go here."

"She was here on my first day and she was at the hospital." Candice answered.

"She moved out of town." Randy started to think. "Why would she be here?"

"I don't know." Candice then thought back to the hospital. "Why were you and Stacy so close yesterday?"

"Huh?" Randy looked at Candice.

"I left when I saw you two." Candice looked Randy in his eyes. "You two were practically all over each other."

"Aw, Candice." Randy sighed. "She was upset about Paul. I was just trying to comfort her."

"Oh…" Candice replied. "I'm sorry, I must sound like some annoying hag."

"No you don't." Randy kissed her cheek. "Just trying to make sure you keep your man."

"I like that line better." Candice smiled as she looked up and kissed Randy.

"I'm going to go find Stacy and let her know about this Hayley thing." Randy said standing up.

"Ok, I'll see you later." With that said, Randy left the lounge in search of Stacy.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy stood at her locker putting some of her books away. She felt like she had a guilty conscious hanging over her shoulders. The kiss that took place between Randy and herself kept repeating itself in her head. Stacy wanted to talk to Candice about it, but anytime Stacy tried to, Candice was no where to be found. She wasn't sure if it was better not to tell Candice and let it be or to tell her. Telling Candice would help Stacy to feel better, but she wasn't sure if she could put Candice through the pain, if she had told her. Stacy sighed to herself as she felt a tap on her locker. She shut her locker and looked over and seen Andrew standing there.

"Hey!" Stacy smiled. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Andrew stated with no emotion.

"Is everything ok?" Stacy asked concerned.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Andrew sighed. "Though I think we should talk."

"Ok, what about?" Stacy questioned as she leaned against her locker looking at him.

"Stacy, we haven't hung out in the last week or two." Andrew confessed. "You're always busy doing something."

"Andrew…" Stacy was cut off.

"Please, just let me finish." Andrew began again. "Anytime I try to plan something, you've always got something else to do. Yeah, I understand you have your own life too, but its like I'm not even apart of it."

"I can change that." Stacy spoke up. "It's just been hectic the last couple of weeks."

"Stace, you didn't even tell me what was going on." Andrew replied. "But that's not the only reason why I think we should break up."

"Break up?" Stacy soon became speechless.

"I can understand not seeing you and times getting rough." Andrew explained. "But what I can't understand, is that anytime I go to your house your parents tell me that you're hanging out with Randy. Or when I walk by your house, I see Randy talking to you outside."

"Andrew, it's not even like that." Stacy fought. "He's dating Candice and he's only my friend. We've been going through a tough patch with Chris right now. He needed me."

"You don't get it Stacy." Andrew looked her in her eyes. "You two may not be dating each other, but it's there."

"It's only friendship." Stacy held back her tears. "I told you how close we are."

"You two have dated in the past." Andrew responded. "I see the way you both look at each other when one of you walks into a room. Both your eyes light up. Then when I look at you and look into your eyes when I walk into the room, its nothing. I'm just like a normal person."

"That's not true…" Stacy bit her bottom lip.

"Look Stacy, I like you a lot…" Andrew was cut off this time by Stacy.

"Then why are you breaking up with me?" Stacy questioned tears stinging her eyelids.

"Because I can't date a girl who's in love with another guy." Andrew answered.

"I'm no…" Stacy couldn't finish her sentence when she looked down.

"See, you can't even say it." Andrew sighed. "I'd still like to be your friend."

"Friends, yeah." Stacy said in not much then a whisper looking down at the ground.

"Maybe we'll hook up at a later time." Andrew tried to reassure her. "After you've been single for a while and you aren't still hooked on Randy."

With that said Andrew took his hand and made Stacy look at him. Her eyes were very watery and she was trying desperately not to let them fall. At least not in front of him. He frowned at her state of being. He didn't want to do this and he hated hurting her, but it was for the best. Andrew slowly leaned in and kissed Stacy on the lips for the last time. He gave her a small smile before turning around and walking down the hall.

Stacy watched as Andrew walked down the rest of the hall. She wanted to run after him and make him stay with her, but her legs were buckled down to the ground. She couldn't move let alone barely breathe. Her heart was racing 500 miles a minute. She really liked and cared for Andrew and she still did. Stacy had really wanted this one to work. She knew Andrew was right though. She just wished that Andrew would have went through this with her. Maybe Andrew was right. She needed to be single for a while. Though she agreed with Andrew on everything he said, it didn't stop the fact that she was still hurting from the break up. Stacy then let her tears fall. They came spilling out like a waterfall. There was no way for her to control her emotions. As her tears continued to fall, Stacy slid down the lockers crying. Once she was completely on the floor she wrapped her arms around her knees and pulling them close to herself for personal comfort. Randy turned the corner seeing Stacy on the floor crying. He didn't know what had just happened, but she was clearly upset. He slowly walked over to Stacy and looked down at her. He gently sat down next to Stacy. Randy hated seeing her so upset and crying. Orton put her arm around Stacy's shoulder as she continued to cry. Stacy instinctively leaned into Randy laying her head on his shoulders. She knew it was Randy that was sitting next to her. She didn't even have to look at him. Stacy was thankful that he was there sitting by her. She continued to cry in Randy's arms as he rubbed her shoulder and arm trying to soothe her.

"Everything will be ok Stace." Randy said very softly still not knowing what had made her cry in the first place. "I'm here for you."

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please let me know what you think. Remember the reviews inspire me to write. So far I've been on a roll updating everyday. Lets try and keep it that way. Thanks again for all the reviews and don't forget to review this chapter.

Citcat


	47. Don't Lose Faith

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 47: Don't Lose Faith

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

The next few days and including the weekends went by rather quickly for some and slowly for others. It was now Monday in the middle of December. They had a short week of school this week. Their last day in school would be the following Wednesday for their mid winter break. Everyone was looking forward to the break. It meant no school, who wouldn't be looking forward to it. Along with the break, came the time for Christmas. The girls seemed to get more excited for it as the days crept closer. During the last few days not much happened but some things did manage to take place.

Stacy dealt with her break up by herself. She didn't inform any of her friends about her current relationship status. Reason being, she felt that it wasn't as important as other things. Such as Paul being in the hospital and the emotions that Trish was feeling and the issue with Candice and Randy alongside finding out that her cousin was in town. Stacy hadn't seen Hayley at all since she found out that she was in the same school. Hayley must have been keeping quiet as to not alert Stacy. There was still unfinished business between the two, and Stacy was waiting to confront her about it. Stacy never told Candice about the kiss, because she felt that it was best not to tell her. After all, nothing was taking place with Randy and herself. Stacy tried her best to go on and act as if nothing had happened, but as the days progress, its becoming more obvious. It's only in due time before she cracks.

Randy tried to question Stacy about her crying in the hallway. All she said was that she was having a bad day and needed to let loose. Figuring that the issue was a sore spot, he let it go. Soon later he had forgotten about it and dropped it altogether. He had begun spending more time with Candice as the days progressed. As much as he wanted to be with Stacy, by the looks and sounds of it, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. The reason for his thinking, was because he thought Andrew and Stacy were still an item. As much as it hurt him, he was going to try and let go of his feelings for Stacy. By doing that, he decided to hang out with Candice almost everyday. Spending more time with Candice would take his mind off Stacy for the time being. The more time he spent with Candice, he actually found himself falling for her. He was finally giving her the chance by opening up to her. He was putting his heart out there. It was now a two way thing, not just one person trying. They both were playing the felid. Candice took notice of the change and gladly accepted it. She was waiting for the time when she wouldn't be in the relationship by herself. To her, the wait was well worth it. Randy was the sweetest guy she had ever dated.

As for Stephanie, she was with Paul half the time or in school. On the weekends, she would stay overnight with him. Although that wasn't allowed, the nurses simply ignored it. They thought it was cute that they were so in love, though the nurses just called it "puppy love". Paul also never told Stephanie, let alone anyone about the threat Chris had made about them. Before the weekend had come, Paul and Stephanie would get into small arguments about her going to school. He wanted her to keep going and she wanted to stay with him. Obviously Paul would win of course because he would pull the same line each time. "_Do it for you crippled boyfriend please." _Stephanie would then give a small pout, then kiss Paul and leave. Paul healed very quickly over the seven days that he was in there. The doctor released him to go home Sunday morning. Paul would have gone home with his parents, but Stephanie insisted she take him home. The only orders from the doctor was not to bend over to pick things up from the ground or sexual intercourse, because it could rip out his stitches. Other then that, Paul as clear to go back to school. Stephanie was very excited about the news of him being able to come back to school, that she insisted on driving him to school today. Both the McMahon and Levesque families thought that it was cute and funny at the same time. Little Miss Stephanie was acting like the wife to Paul subconsciously.

Trish pretty much was doing her own thing. Things such as working, school and Christmas shopping. She liked to get it all done before the rushes started. She was about half done with all her shopping. Over the days, Chris still managed to stay on her mind. She didn't want Chris on her mind at all, but he was. As far as she was concerned, she wouldn't let him inside her walls anymore. He had lied and manipulated her. Yeah she was still in love with him, that she couldn't deny. Yes, she cheated and hurt him. She felt some what responsible for Chris acting the way that he did, but at the same time she didn't feel responsible. Chris could have easily just ignored her and kept his friends. Trish would give anything to have the chance to be with Chris again, but she wanted to be with the old Chris. Not the new Chris Jericho that he was portraying himself to be. She could only hope that he would go back to the way he used to be. Then maybe in time, they could reconcile. As for now, she needed to stay focused on herself and her friends. She needed to learn to depend on herself before allowing herself to get hurt again, or her hurt anyone else.

Tuesday night, Chris had no where to go and no where to stay. It had begun raining that night and it was also very cold seeing that it was the middle of the winter season. With his two bags that he left the house with, he walked back up his long porch to the house that used to be his home. He hadn't been here in the last two weeks or so. Deep in his heart, he missed it. He missed his parents and his sister. He prayed that they would take him back. When he knocked on the door his father had answered. After and hour or so, Chris was upstairs and in his own bed. His bedroom was the exact same as when he left. He had convinced his parents that he was done with all the bad in his life. He confided in them about everything and what he had done. While speaking to his parents, he couldn't help by cry as he told them. Chris had finally realized just how bad he had become. He was afraid that he wouldn't get his friends back. His parents reassured him that he would get them back. If his family could take him back, then his friends could. Feeling a little bit more confident he had begun to think of ways to get his friends back.

XoxoxoxoX

Back to Monday morning. Paul and Stephanie entered the school a bit early. She wanted to make sure that he had time to gather all his things from his locker and so forth. She wasn't too worrisome about Paul though. She let him do things on his own, unless he asked for help. Steph knew how important it was for him to be "the man". This meant being stubborn in her opinion. A smile crept across her face as she watched him open his locker and grabbed a few books and put them into his backpack. She had missed having him at school. The smile stayed plastered on her face, so when Paul turned and looked at her, she was still smiling.

"What are you all smiles for?" Paul questioned her.

"You." Stephanie smiled at him still.

"Ok." Paul shook his head as he went back to his locker.

"It's nice having you back in school." Stephanie beamed. "I missed having you around."

"Come here." Paul motioned for her to come closer to him.

As she stepped a bit closer to him, Paul leaned in and captured her lips into a kiss. The kiss was soft and gentle. It lasted for a minute or two. He pulled away from her slowly and he smiled at the smile and glow that was on Stephanie's face. She surely enjoyed the kiss as well as he did. As they stood staring into each other's eyes, Paul took his hand and pushed the loose strands of Stephanie's hair behind her ear. Stephanie couldn't help but feel extremely happy.

"I love you." Paul smiled at her.

"I love you too." Stephanie blushed, as he always had that affect on her. "So you're going to be ok through out the day?"

"Yes, I'll be fine." Paul replied turning back to his locker and grabbing another book, but he dropped it in the process.

Stephanie smirked as the book fell to the floor. She was going to have a little fun with this. Even though it was winter, Stephanie still wore a skirt to school. She looked at Paul's face as he studied the book on the ground. He was obviously waiting for her to pick it up, seeing that he could bend that far to pick things up, due to doctor's orders. Stephanie casually turned around and leaned over slowly to pick up the book. She stopped when her fingers touched the book laying on the floor. Paul bit his bottom lip as he watched her pick the book up. He knew she was doing this on purpose. She knew they couldn't have sex until the stitches were out, and she loved to tease him about it. Paul licked his lips as she slowly stood back up, and handed him the book. He gladly took the book as he looked at her. She had that teasing smirk on her face. He couldn't wait until he got his stitches out. He would get her back for all the teaseling that she seemed to like doing.

"You're mean." Paul said with a frown.

"Am not." Stephanie replied in mock tone. "I can't believe you would even think that."

"Ok, you're not mean." Paul raised an eyebrow at her. "You're a tease."

"Tease, Me?" Stephanie shook her head in defense. "Never."

"Yes you." Paul smirked at her. "But, I still love you."

"Aw, I still love you too." Stephanie smiled kissing him on the cheek. "Now, you better not be dropping books on purpose for some tramp to come pick them up."

"I'd only drop my books for you." Paul answered the smirk still on his face.

"I bet you can't wait until you're stitches are taken out." Stephanie grinned.

"Oh, you bet I can't wait." Paul responded pulling out his phone. "I've got the countdown on my phone."

"Wonder why you can't wait." Stephanie spoke as she looked at him.

"Oh, I think you know." Paul stated grabbing Stephanie and pulling her close to him.

"What makes you think you're going to get any?" Stephanie giggled at the look on his face.

"Oh no." Paul shook his head. "You can't sit here and tease me and then not let me get any."

"You want to bet?" Stephanie grinned as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"No, I'm not better." Paul answered. "Because I know you want me just as bad as I want you. So you'd just be putting yourself in torture.

"Damn, you're right." Stephanie smirked as she closed the gap between them by kissing him.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish sat in the lounge waiting for school to begin. She was going over some of her history notes because they had a test today in that class. She was very well prepared for it, but had nothing else better to do. Trish yawned as she looked up from her note cards. She noticed Stacy enter the lounge. A smile formed on both girls' faces as Stacy made her way over to Trish sitting on the sofa. Stacy sat down next to Trish and dropped her bag on the table.

"Hey." Trish smiled. "What's up?"

"Hey, and not much." Stacy replied. "Just disgusted."

"Why?" Trish became curious.

"Oh, I saw Paul and Steph in the hall." Stacy shook her head. "I was going to go over and talk to them, but I swear they are joined at the hip."

"That's them for ya." Trish laughed. "They'll get over that stage sooner or later."

"More then likely later." Stacy giggled. "He just got out the hospital, so he's probably acting like a wounded puppy."

"I can so see Paul doing that." Trish smiled as a laugh escaped her mouth.

"Anyways, what are you up to?" Stacy questioned taking notice of Trish's note cards.

"Just studying for my history test." Trish sighed. "I'm over prepared for it though."

"You're such a book worm." Stacy teased.

"No I'm not." Trish defended in a joking way. "I just like to be prepared, that's all."

"Whatever you say Stratus." Stacy smirked.

"I haven't seen you over the last couple of days." Trish looked at Stacy.

"I haven't seen you either." Stacy looked at Trish.

"I've been working." Trish managed out. "What about you, I know you weren't working."

"Just keeping a low profile." Stacy shrugged her shoulders.

"Stacy Keibler?" Trish was in shock. "A low profile. I must be hearing things."

"I've just been needing some me time." Stacy replied as her eyes caught notice of Andrew walking into the lounge. She tried to ignore it, but Trish took notice as well.

"Look who's here." Trish smirked. "It's lover boy, you should call him over here."

"No, its ok." Stacy said quickly.

"Why not?" Trish questioned. "Don't you want to see him?"

"We already saw each other." Stacy lied. "Just let it go."

"Stacy…" Trish stopped before finishing her sentence.

Trish looked over at Stacy who had looked away from her. Her head was turned slightly away from Trish and was looking down. If Trish didn't know better, she'd say Stacy was crying. Trish looked up and over at Andrew who was looking over at them. He obviously noticed Stacy crying, because he quickly exited the lounge area. Trish looked back to her friends putting two and two together. They must have broken up.

"Talk to me Stacy." Trish spoke scooting closer to Stacy and putting her arm around her.

"He broke up with me." Stacy cried putting her head in her hands.

"Why?" Trish asked. "What happened."

"He said it was because we never see each other." Stacy sobbed. "And because he thinks, well he knows I'm in love with Randy."

"Aw, Stace, I'm so sorry." Trish hugged her friend. "I'm here for you."

"I know." Stacy continued to cry in Trish's arms. "I really liked him."

"I know you did." Trish sighed.

"He said we could stay friends." Stacy laughed sarcastically. "And that maybe in the future we could get back together."

"Well, wouldn't that be a good thing?" Trish questioned.

"After I've been single for a while and I wasn't in love with Randy anymore." Stacy said.

"So you don't think you'll stop loving Randy?" Trish asked running her fingers through Stacy's hair.

"I don't know." Stacy cried. "We're such good friends and the chemistry, well it's just there whether we want it to be there or not."

"Well, maybe you and Randy could try again." Trish suggested as Stacy pulled away and looked at Trish.

"That wont happen for two good reasons." Stacy shook her head.

"Those would be?" Trish looked at Stacy who was now sniffling.

"One, he's dating Candice and I couldn't possibly hurt Candice." Stacy began. "Two, I told Randy the same exact thing Andrew told me. If I were to go back with Randy right now, it would make me sound vulnerable because I just got out of a relationship. Also, it would confuse the hell out of Randy."

"But he loves you too." Trish looked at Stacy oddly.

"Yeah, we both love each other." Stacy sighed. "I'm sure we would both want to be with each other again, but it's just not the right time."

"Why not?" Trish questioned. "You two are so close and the best of friends."

"That's the problem." Stacy answered. "The last time we tried dating, we almost ended our friendship."  
"Oh, so it's too soon to just start dating again?" Trish came to realization. "I get it now."

"That's why I said in due time." Stacy replied. "I don't think it will happen though."

"Why not?" Trish asked.

"He's falling for Candice." Stacy looked down. "I'm happy for them both though."

"Aw, Stacy." Trish hugged her. "Putting others happiness before yourself."

"Yeah, it's a new thing I know." Stacy giggled a little bit.

"I love it." Trish smiled at Stacy.

XoxoxoxoX

Candice walked down the hallway towards her locker to get a few items. She had been on cloud nine for the last few days. They were all spent with Randy. The thought of his name made her smile to herself as she dug around in her locker. As she shut her locker she felt two arm wrap around her waist. Her smile became bigger as she felt the familiar arms around her waist gently tighten and smelt his cologne. She relaxed into his arms and put her hands on top of his. He slowly turned around in his arms and kissed her on the lips. When pulling away, Randy had a cheesy grin on his face.

"What's with the cheese face?" Candice asked him with a smile of her own.

"I got you something." Randy replied.

"Randy!" Candice squealed. "You don't have to buy me things."

"I know." Randy smirked. "But when I saw it, I thought of you."

"Well, what is it then?" Candice questioned as a smile formed on her face.

"It's in my locker." Randy stated taking her hand, as they began to walk to his locker.

"Randy…" Candice said as they walked by the lounge and seeing Stacy and Trish talking.

"Yeah." Randy looked over towards Candice as they continued to walk.

"Is everything ok with Stacy?" Candice turned her attention towards him.

"What do you mean?" Randy asked, as he hadn't really seen Stacy the last few days to know how to answer her question.

"Well, she's been really…" Candice began to think of the right word to say.

"Really what?" Randy asked as they stopped in front of his locker.

"Different." Candice made a thoughtful face as they stood in front of his locker.

"What do you mean by Different?" Randy questioned again.

"She hasn't been, well, herself." Candice began. "She didn't leave the house at all this last week."

"Really, so she was home every time I came to pick you up?" Randy asked yet again.

"Yeah, she practically lived on the couch." Candice answered. "I tried talking to her, but she said she was perfectly fine and that she was just taking some 'me' time."

"Stacy taking 'me' time?" Randy was confused now. "That doesn't sound like her at all."

"I know, that's why I asked you." Candice responded. "You're her best friend and so I thought you would know."

"I haven't heard from Stacy since…" Randy started to think. "Since she was crying last Tuesday."

"She's been like this since last Tuesday." Candice spoke up. "She was crying?"

"Yeah, I was going to talk to her about Hayley, but held off against it because she was crying." Randy rubbed the back of his neck. "She said it was just a bad day though."

"I think it may have been more then that." Randy sighed turning towards his locker turning to his combination. "You'd have better luck asking Andrew."

"Andrew never called her this weekend nor came over." Candice wondered. "Do you think they may have broken up?"

"Andrew and Stacy break up?" Randy said sarcastically turning to look at her. "I don't think so, Stacy's way to into him for that to happen."

"I guess, I just haven't seen him around or heard about him from her." Candice answered.

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Randy looked Candice in her eyes. "Will that make things better for you?"

"Yeah it would." Candice smiled. "It's driving me nuts the way she's been acting. She barely talks at home."

"Yeah, that's not Stacy at all." Randy replied opening his locker. "I'll talk to her."

"Thanks." Candice stated kissing his cheek.

"Close your eyes." Randy instructed. "And hold out your hands."

Candice did as she was told to do. It felt like she was standing there for hours as she waited for him to place the object in her hands. Although, it was only a second later when she felt a soft plush like feeling in her hands. Randy told her she could open her eyes and she did so. She examined the small white teddy bear with a red t-shirt on it that said "_Someone thinks I'm beautiful" _A smile crept back onto Candice's face as she hugged the teddy bear to her chest. She then wrapped her arms around Randy, kissing him first and then hugging him.

"Thank you!" Candice replied happiness clear in her voice.

"It was nothing." Randy smiled hugging her back.

"You're too sweet." Candice glowed as she pulled away from him.

"Not as sweet as you." Randy smirked stealing a kiss from her.

XoxoxoxoX

It was passing period for all the students. This meant that the kids were going from their second period class to their third period class. Paul made it to his locker without being trampled over or on. He put in his combination and opened his locker. He began switching out his books. As he was doing this, a random student bumped into Paul as he was getting his books out. The bump wasn't hard enough to hurt Paul, but it did cause him to drop quite a few books.

"Shit!"

Paul cursed himself as he looked at his books on the floor. He sighed, knowing he couldn't pick them up, but he really needed them. Levesque tried to stop a few people in the hall, but they just went about their business. Coming to realize that they weren't going to help him, he tried to use his foot to pick them up. He moved the book towards the locker and pushed it up against it. He tried to drag the book up the locker, but wasn't having any luck. The book slipped out from his foot multiple times. Paul slammed his locker shut becoming frustrated with the situation at hand. He put his head in his hands as he tried taking deep breaths. While his eyes were shut and his head in his hands, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He slowly looked up to find Chris standing there, holding his book outward towards him. Paul looked at Jericho oddly as he snatched the book from him.

"I saw you having trouble." Chris replied. "I take it you can't bend down to get things because of your stitches."

Paul didn't answer him. He just looked at him like he was crazy. The guy ditched all his friends, beat the hell out of Brock, got kicked out of his, started hanging with the wrong people, got detention everyday, started smoking, held a knife to Randy's neck, threatened his friends and his own cousin. Also not to mention he stabbed the hell out of Paul. Levesque wasn't planning on giving him the time of day. He slowly turned his back on Chris and began to walk away. He stopped walking when Chris called his name. He sighed as he slowly turned around.

"I'm sorry." Chris started. "I know that doesn't mean much to you right now, but I really am sorry. I fucked up big time and I regret it all. I know I don't deserve you or any of the gang's friendships. I'm changing this time, I really am. You probably don't believe me, and I don't blame you. Hell, I wouldn't believe myself either. I'm going to earn your trust back and everyone else's, or at least try to. Even though I turned my back on you and forgot who my real friends were, please don't do the same to me. You are so much better then I am. Please don't stoop to my level. All I'm asking, is that you don't lose faith in me. I'm for real this time about changing. I don't know what I have to do to prove it, but I'm going to try everything. I'm sorry for everything."

With that said, Chris just looked at Paul. No words were spoken after that. It was almost as if they were having a stare down between one another. The bell rang signaling that they both were late to their next class. That bell had snapped them both out of their trance. Paul shook his head as he turned his back on Chris again and walked down the hall. Chris was expecting that reaction from Paul, but he wasn't going to give up. He couldn't give up. He wanted his friends back. He needed them. Chris was nothing without them.

XoxoxoxoX

That's the end of this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I liked writing it. Please don't forget to review. I love them. They are like ecstasy to me. Thanks again to all my reviewers.

Citcat


	48. Maybe He Is Trying

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 48: Maybe He Is Trying

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

The time for lunch came quicker then usual today. All the students poured out of their classrooms quickly. They only had an hour break, so they always made the best of it. Randy was putting some books away in his locker when he noticed Stacy walk out of her classroom. She was heading in the opposite direction then his locker was. He shoved everything into his locker and shut it. He hurriedly caught up to Stacy by running up to her. Randy gently grabbed her arm causing her to stop and turn to face him. Stacy stood there holding her books to her chest as she looked at Randy. Her eyes slowly went from his face, down towards his arm. They continued on until her eyes reached the site of his hand holding onto her arm. Stacy slowly looked back up at Randy who was looking at her with curious eyes.

"What?" Stacy eyed him wondering what he wanted.

"What's going on?" Randy questioned. "You haven't been yourself lately."

"How would you know?" Stacy took a step away from Randy releasing his grip on her arm.

"Candice told me." Randy answered putting his hands in his pockets. "She's worried about you."

"Well, I'm perfectly fine." Stacy replied as she moved a stray hair behind her ear.

"Are you sure?" Randy asked with a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"Yeah, just dandy." Stacy stated. "If that's all I should be going."

With that said, Stacy began to walk off. Randy didn't buy it. He knew something was up with her. He now understood what Candice was saying about Stacy acting "different". He pulled his hands out of his pockets and did a light jog to catch up to her. Randy jogged a little ahead of Stacy and stopped in front of her. As she stopped walking, he stood in front of her.

"What now?" Stacy sighed getting a bit annoyed with him now.

"What's this 'me' time I'm hearing about?" Randy questioned again.

"What, does Candice tell you every little thing I tell her?" Stacy fired back.

"No, she doesn't." Randy took a step backwards. "She's just worried about you, that's all."

"Well, I don't need her to worry about me." Stacy shut her eyes. "Nor you."

"Why wont you talk to me?" Randy pursued his questions.

"Because there is nothing to talk about!" Stacy spoke her voice raising a little.

"Absolutely nothing?" Randy asked again.

"I said it's nothing!" Stacy seethed feeling her eyes beginning to tear up. "So just let it go."

"I'm not going to let it go." Randy answered. "Not until you tell me what's going on with you."

"What do you want me to say?" Stacy's voice became louder with each word she spoke.

"I want you to just tell me why you're acting different." Randy explained. "What's this 'me' time thing?"

"I just need to be by myself, ok!" Stacy's voice cracked as she fought back tears. "Just leave me alone, please!"

"I don't understand why you can't just tell me." Randy shook his head at Stacy. "We've been through so much, and you can't simply tell me what's wrong with you."

"That's because there is nothing wrong!" Stacy yelled catching Randy off guard. "I keep telling you, but you insist that something's wrong."

"What's gotten into you?" Randy looked Stacy in her eyes. "I'm your best friend, we tell each other everything."

"Do we?" Stacy questioned softly her head lifting up slowly as her eyes met Randy's.

No more words were mentioned to one another as they stared into each other's eyes. Stacy bit her bottom lip as she broke there eye contact and looked down at the floor. She slowly stepped to the side of Randy and walked passed him. As Stacy continued to walk, she left a few tears slip. She turned her head as she walked to look back at Randy. Feeling her eyes on him, Randy turned his head to meet her eyes once more. He could have swore she had tears in her eyes, but she was too far down the hall for him to make a clear judgment. He was confused at the way Stacy was being, but there was no way for him to get her to talk to him. Something had happened with her, and he'd figure it out in due time. As Stacy reached the corner of the hall, she turned her head and looked away from Randy. She turned the corner and disappeared out of Randy's sight. Once she was around the corner she leaned up against the locker as she let a few more tears escape her eyes again. She would have loved to tell Randy why she was so upset and acting different, but she couldn't. If she told him that Andrew and her had broken up, he clearly would have broken Candice's heart. Stacy couldn't have that.

"I'm doing this for you Candice and Randy." Stacy cried to herself silently as she also vowed to herself that she wouldn't interfere in their relationship.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris stood in the lunch line waiting to pay for his lunch. He had left his wallet at home, which had his cash in it. So, the only money he had on him right now was on his school ID card. He had exactly one meal left on his card. Chris looked around the cafeteria as he continued to wait. As he looked from table to table, he had made his mind up about eating outside. Jericho turned back to the situation in front of him.

"I'm sorry Miss." She spoke. "You can't afford a meal today.

"I forgot my cash at home." The girl spoke. "I can pay you twice as much tomorrow."

"I can't allow that to happen." The cashier replied. "Just leave your meal there, and I'll take care of it. You're holding up the line."

A sighed escaped the girl's mouth as she glared at the cashier lady. Chris looked down at his own meal and back towards the girl. All of a sudden he wasn't as hungry as he was before. Chris pulled out his ID card and handed it to the cashier. He paid for the salad and water that the girl was trying to purchase. Once paying for it, the cashier looked at Chris and handed him his card back.

"That was your last meal." The cashier spoke looking at Chris then to the girl. "You might want to thank to guy."

Chris rolled his eyes at the cashier and walked away. As he was walking, he heard someone shouting hey. It sounded like it was directed towards him. Chris slowly turned around and noticed the same girl trying to catch up to him. He stopped and waited for her. Once she approached him, she gave him a soft smile.

"Thanks." She said. "You didn't have to let me have your last meal."

"It's ok." Chris smiled. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm Candice Michelle." Candice smiled back.

"Chris." Chris replied back. "It's nice to meet you."

"Do we know each other?" Candice wondered out loud.

"I don't think so." Chris began to think. "Why do you ask?"

"You're name sounds familiar." Candice tilted her head to the side.

"I don't think we know each other." Chris sighed. "I haven't really been around much to actually know you."

"Jericho?" Candice questioned herself as she looked up at Chris.

"How'd you know my last name?" Chris asked this time.

"Oh, uh…" Candice took a step backwards.

"You know my friends." Chris ran a hand through his hair. "If I can even still call them that."

"I've heard so much about you." Candice said hesitantly. "It's odd meeting you, because you don't look anything like the way you were talked about."

"That's because I wasn't being myself." Chris answered. "I'm really not like that."

"I'm not one to judge." Candice started. "I don't know the whole story."

"Then why'd you back away from me?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I heard…" Candice looked around the area they were standing in. "What you did to Paul."

"Why did I have that feeling?" Chris sighed to himself. "I never meant for that to happen."

"You know, you don't seem as bad as they say." Candice began trying to make him a feel little better. "You paid for my lunch with your last meal."

"Yeah, I guess." Chris looked up at Candice. "I've changed for good this time. I'm just trying to earn their trust back."

"They seem pretty reasonable." Candice smiled. "I'm sure you'll get it in time."

"I hope so." Chris responded. "Don't mind me asking, but how'd you become so close in the group? Did they replace me with a girl?"

"No, don't flatter yourself." Candice giggled. "I'm Randy's girlfriend and I live with Stacy."

"Why doesn't that sound like a good idea?" Chris put a small smile on.

"Oh because I'm living with my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend and best friend." Candice laughed. "It's not as bad, I think they are both over each other."

"Shows how much I've missed." Chris sighed again.

Candice was going to say something else when Paul walked up to her side and stood by her. She looked up at Paul and noticed the glare that he was giving Chris. Given the fact of everything Chris had done, she knew that it wasn't going to be easy for Chris to get their trust back, more so Paul's trust. Paul put an arm on Candice's shoulder as he ushered her away from Chris. Paul didn't want to take any chances with Chris. If Chris wanted to prove himself to Paul, he'd have to work a lot harder then just talking to a friend of theirs. Chris watched as Paul and Candice walked away and towards the lounge. Another sigh escaped Chris's mouth as he watched them. He wanted his friends back, and nothing seemed to be good enough at the moment.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish and Stephanie sat across from each other in the lounge on two different couches. They were both sipping on a smoothie and reading, or much better to say, flipping through a magazine. They made small talk every now and then. Trish had looked up from her magazine eyeing the brunette in front of her. She was trying to figure her friend out. Stephanie wasn't with Paul, and she clearly wasn't talking to him on her cell phone. This was oddly different considering the fact that the two had become inseparable. Not figuring any answers for herself, she decided to just ask.

"Is everything ok Steph?" Trish questioned drawing Stephanie's attention away from the magazine she was reading.

"Yeah, why?" Stephanie asked looking up at her blonde friend.

"Well, you're alone." Trish stated.

"No I'm not." Stephanie eyed her friend strangely. "You're with me."

"No, I mean you're by yourself." Trish explained. "Where's Paul?"

"Oh, I don't know." Stephanie shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not his keeper."

"You two are always together." Trish shook her head. "I'm just surprised he isn't with you right now."

"We have our own lives." Stephanie smiled. "It's not like we spend every little minute together."

"Ok, I was just checking." Trish replied. "I usually always just see the two of you together."

"I think the clingy stage is over with." Stephanie responded.

"Really?" Trish spoke sarcastically. "I don't buy it."

"It is." Stephanie answered. "You don't see him with me right now do you?"

"Actually…" Trish trailed off motioning to the entrance to the lounge.

Stephanie looked over her shoulder and found Paul walking in with Candice. A smile crept across her face as she saw him head towards them. She knew that the clingy part of their relationship was far from over just yet. Stephanie just liked to mess around and get reactions out of her friends. She slowly turned around and looked at Trish. Trish rolled her eyes at the huge smile on Stephanie's face. She knew that Steph was full of it when she said they weren't clingy anymore. For goodness sake, the man just got out the hospital, they were both bound to be more clingy then ever. Stephanie tossed her magazine on the table when Candice and Paul reached the sofas. Paul sat down gingerly by Stephanie, as Candice sat down next to Trish.

"Hey." Candice smiled at Trish.

"Hey, how are you?" Trish returned the smile.

"I'm doing pretty good." Candice stated. "And you?"

"I'm doing fine." Trish replied. "Flying solo today?"

"I guess so." Candice answered taking the lid off of her salad. "Oh, sorry Steph, I forg…"

Candice turned to say that she was sorry for not saying hi when she sat down. A small giggle escaped her lips as she shook her head. Clearly, Stephanie didn't mind that Candice had forgotten to acknowledge her. Trish had also looked over when Candice mentioned Stephanie's name. She couldn't help but laugh herself. This more then likely proved her point that the two were still very clingy towards one another. Paul and Stephanie sat on the sofa, which was the size of a love seat, facing one another. Their foreheads were leaning against each others as they stared into each others eyes. Their hands were entwined in between them on Paul's knee. A smile on both of their faces as they whispered things to each other. Not even a second later, their lips met and they began a long kiss. Candice and Trish looked at one another and then back to Paul and Stephanie. They looked back and forth for a minute or two and then Trish coughed loudly enough to break Paul and Stephanie up.

"Oh, uh, Sorry." Paul and Stephanie spoke in union.

"Wow, just wow." Trish rolled her eyes with a smile.

"What?" Stephanie said innocently.

"We didn't do anything wrong." Paul chimed in.

"Nothing." Trish smiled. "Candice was trying to talk to you Stephy."

"Oh, Hi Candice." Stephanie smiled taking notice of Candice's presence.

"Hey, how are you?" Candice questioned. "Though I'm sure that's a dumb question."

"I'm doing great." Stephanie beamed. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good." Candice replied.

"Your salad looks good." Stephanie eyed Candice's salad. "Did you bring it from home?"

"No, they had it in the cafeteria." Candice spoke.

"No way!" Stephanie looked at Candice. "I've never seen them."

"Yeah, they are in there." Candice stated not thinking. "Chris actually bought it for me."

"WHAT!?" Trish and Stephanie spoke at the same time this time.

"Uh, yeah." Candice nodded putting the dressing on her salad.

"Chris.. Chris Jericho?" Stephanie looked at Candice. "My cousin, Chris Jericho."

"Yeah." Candice replied.

"You talk to him?" Trish looked at Candice.

"Well, I didn't know it was him." Candice said honestly. "I just wanted to thank him and I thought I would introduce myself."

"Well, now you know the asshole." Stephanie rolled her eyes as she felt Paul take a hold of her hand.

"You know, I think he's trying to change." Candice answered.

"Don't believe him." Paul stated firmly. "He tried that this morning."

"He talked to you?" Stephanie turned towards Paul.

"He apologized and gave this long speech on how he was changing." Paul continued. "I don't buy it. He said he was changing after he putting me in the hospital. He lied, just like he's lying again."

"I agree with Paul on this one." Trish spoke up from the four some.

"Why?" Candice looked over at Trish. "I thought you'd believe him, because of your history with one another."

"He manipulated me into telling him where Paul's hospital room was." Trish responded. "He only wants to do what can reward him in the end."

"Talking about Chris is really starting to annoy me." Stephanie cut in. "Can we talk about something else please?"

"Sure, anything you want." Paul smiled at Stephanie.

"How did you do today?" Stephanie questioned him. "Drop any books?"

"I did fine, other then…" Paul trailed off.

"Other then what?" Trish looked over in Paul's direction too.

"I dropped my book in between classes." Paul explained. "That's when Chris saw me struggling and picked it up and handed it to me."

"See, he is trying to change." Candice blurted out. "If he wasn't, he wouldn't have done that."

"I'm supposed to believe him because he picked a book up for me?" Paul asked Candice.

"Well, it's a small gesture showing he is changing." Candice started. "I mean, he gave up his last meal so I could have my salad here today."

"He did?" Trish replied in question.

"Yeah, he did." Candice answered looking at Trish. "I think he's really trying this time, even though I don't know how deep this thing goes."

Paul, Trish, and Stephanie all looked at one another after what Candice had told them. Chris had went out of his way to help Paul with his book and had gave up his last meal so Candice could eat. What he did for Candice was more of a shock because Chris had no idea that they were friends with Candice. So there wasn't a way for him to use Candice to get them to forgive him. Maybe he was trying to change, and possibly doing these small gestures to prove himself. Chris may be on a good start right now, but that didn't mean they were ready to forgive him just yet. They still weren't convinced that he was changing. Anyone could do a small gesture like he did, but they did give him a tiny bit of credit.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think. Thanks to all my readers and reviews. Also, I thought I would throw out a few stories that I think would be worth reading. I know I love them.

So, If you are interested, checking the following stories out.

Where Love Lies by KS4EVA

Stephanie McMahon Levesque loves her career and family. When one comes into conflict with the other, it begins to affect her husband, Paul, in a way that shakes their relationship to the core. Triple H/Steph

Beyond The Sea by SuperDooperMario

Stephanie McMahon has just moved to her new house....on a small Caribbean island! Convinced that her life is over, she meets Paul Levesque and discovers that it's only really just beginning. AU HHH/Steph

You can find these stories under my favorites. I highly recommend checking these stories out. They are well worth the read. If you check them out and like them as much as I did, then please let them know with a review.

Thanks again for reading my latest chapter and don't forget to review.

Citcat


	49. Apology Accepted

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 49: Apology Accepted

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Tuesday quickly came. This day meant that it was there last full school day. Tomorrow was only a half day where most students attend. So, technically, today would be the last day for most students. Luckily for everyone the school day was progressing rather quickly. They had already made it to their lunch hour. Due to the rain outside, the cafeteria was jammed pack today. As Chris entered the cafeteria he looked around the room. His eyes wandered around until them came to a table with six people sitting at it. They consisted of Paul, Randy, Stacy, Trish, Stephanie and Candice. They were all laughing with one another and had smiles on each of their faces. Chris sighed missing those times. He'd give anything to just join them right now. He was slowly picking up the pieces, and they were slowly coming together. Chris knew that now, was the right time to put his plan into action to get his friends to at least acknowledge him.

XoxoxoxoX

The six, which were Stacy, Stephanie, Trish, Candice, Randy and Paul all sat at a round table together. Trish and Stacy were sitting next to each other enjoying their salads they had gotten. Candice was sitting next to Trish and alongside Randy. He had his arm wrapped around Candice's shoulders as he drank his water. Candice had already finished her sandwich that she had gotten, and was leaning in towards him. Randy was sitting next to Paul, who was obviously sitting next to Stephanie. The two were practically sharing the same chair, that's how close the two were to each other. They were holding hands under the table as they leaned into one another. To complete the circle, Stacy was sitting right next to Stephanie. It was the last day of school, so the figured to all hang out at school. Even though, they would more then likely see each other outside of school too.

"I'm so glad today is our last day." Stacy replied at the table.

"Me too." Paul responded. "I've been needing a break."

"You need a break?" Trish laughed. "You just got back."

"She's got a point man." Randy added in.

"School makes me exhausted." Paul replied with a smile.

"Are you sure it's school?" Stacy giggled, as she seemed to be acting herself today.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Paul questioned as he looked towards Stacy.

"Seriously Paul?" Candice couldn't help but laugh as she pointed to Stephanie.

Everyone's eyes diverted towards Stephanie who had been silent the entire time. One hand was under the table holding Paul's and the other hand was texting on her cell phone. Paul shook his head as he realized that the group obviously thought that Stephanie was the reason why he was so exhausted, rather then his actual school work. A smile came across his face as he watched her on her cell phone. She was one full ball of energy and he loved it. She wasn't the reason why he was so exhausted at all. He could keep up with her, if not, Paul was the one making Stephanie exhausted. Everyone continued to stare at Stephanie who was still very clueless to the entire table. After a few more minutes, feeling eyes on her, she looked up. Stephanie jumped back a little bit taking in the looks of her friends.

"What?" Stephanie asked as she looked at everyone.

"Are you here with us today?" Randy questioned Stephanie.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stephanie smiled as she went back to her cell phone.

"Who are you texting?" Paul asked looking over her shoulder.

"Nobody." Stephanie said shutting her phone.

"Nobody?" Paul raised any eyebrow.

"So…" Trish spoke up. "How's everybody's day going?"

"Pretty good." Randy and Stacy spoke at the same time.

Randy looked over at Stacy who had looked at him as well. The two had not spoken one on one since yesterday. It seemed as if Stacy was purposely going out of her way to avoid Randy. She wouldn't mind if someone else was there with them though. Candice looked at Randy and Stacy stare at one another when they both spoke at the same time. She didn't know what to think. She was curious to know if Randy was able to talk to her the other day. Candice assumed that's what the odd look was about.

"Well, my day was good." Trish stated again. "Candice?"

"Mine went well too." Candice answered. "Steph?"

"It was going great, until someone started questioning me!" Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"Oh, so now I'm just a someone?" Paul answered in question.

"Did I say that?" Stephanie questioned as she let go of his hand. "Didn't think so."

"Then why wont you tell me who you're texting?" Paul asked again.

"It's none of your concern!" Stephanie shouted a little bit.

"It must be somebody if you are getting all upset about it!" Paul shouted back.

Candice and Trish looked at one another again. Paul and Stephanie were arguing for the first time in a long time. Stacy and Randy still had that strange stare going on. The two girls didn't know what to do at the moment. Both girls stood up at the same time and slammed their hands down on the table. This grabbed the attention from their four friends. All four of them looked at Trish and Candice as they all became quiet. Trish decided to speak rather then Candice. Reason being, because she knew her friends better then Candice did and she would have more of an impact. Trish was at least hoping to stop the arguing for the time spent at the table.

"I don't know why everyone is so angry with each other." Trish started. "But can we please just get a long for the remainder of the lunch period?"

"I guess so." Stephanie and Paul said at the same time turning their backs to one another.

"Yeah, that's fine." Stacy answered.

"I can do that." Randy replied after Stacy spoke.

With that said, Trish and Candice both sat down. Now instead of everyone arguing, it was dead silence. Trish sighed at the sound. This was not how she wanted to spend the rest of her day. Everything was going just fine up until now, by witnessing her friend's fights. She ran a hand through her hair as she looked towards the entrance to the cafeteria. A confused look came on her face as she saw Chris enter as if he had a mission to accomplish.

Chris walked over to an empty table that was in the center of the cafeteria. He placed his hands on the table and shook it to test its sturdiness. After taking a few deep breaths, he slowly climbed up on one of the chairs. From there, he crawled up onto the table. He turned around on the table facing his group of friends. A look of sadness was plastered on his face, and it was real emotion. He wasn't faking it this time as he gained the eye contact of all five of his friends. Candice was watching, but she wasn't the reason for him being up here on the table.

"Dude, get the hell off the table!" Some random student yelled at Chris.

"I know a lot of you don't care that I'm up here on this table." Chris spoke ignoring the kid's comment. "But I am up here right now, to apologize to my best friends. I don't care if you accept this apology, but I do hope that you actually listen to what I have to say. I Chris Jericho, am sorry for everything that I've done to cause you all hurt and pain. Stacy, I'm sorry for being a complete asshole and for being an idiot to not realize that you all were here for me. Randy, I'm sorry for practically threatening you to your face and holding the knife to your neck. That was wrong, and I don't know what had gotten into me. I wish now that I could take it back, but I can't. I only hope you can forgive me for pulling that stunt. Stephanie, my cousin, I'm deeply sorry for everything. I'm sorry for stabbing your boyfriend, for not confiding in you when I needed help and for threatening you behind your back." Stephanie looked over at Chris with a confused look on her face and the over to Paul who wouldn't even look at her. Putting two and two together, she figured out why Paul had been so worried the day she hadn't been in touch with him. A small smile formed on her face as she looked back over towards Chris. "Trish, I'm deeply sorry for all the pain and hurt I've caused you. I used and manipulated you into thinking that I had changed, when I hadn't. I'm sorry for not turning to you when I needed help, after you told me that I could. I should have listened to you, but I chose not to. Lastly, Paul, I think I owe you the biggest apology. I'm sorry for everything and for putting you in the hospital. I honestly wasn't myself, and I know that's not a good enough reason for doing what I did, but I am truly sorry. I don't deserve any of you as my friends and you all deserve better then me. I just hope that you can manage to at least forgive me. We don't have to be friends anymore, but your forgiveness would be better then nothing. Although, I don't even deserve that. We all make mistakes. Some bigger then others. I've made my fair share of mistakes, and I only hope that you all can see that. All in all, I'm sorry for everything I've done."

Chris stood tall on the table as he looked at his friends sitting there. They all were staring at him unsure of what to say. As they all began to contemplate Chris' apology he still stood on the table. He wasn't sure whether to get down from the table or to stay up on the table. A sigh escaped his lips as his friends had all turned their backs on him. The five of them were talking at the table secretly. It was almost as if they were contemplating as a group on what to do.

"You're such a pansy!" Another kid shouted as they threw their chocolate milk at him.

This started a food throwing contest at Chris. He had become the target as everyone started throwing other food and drink items at Chris as he stood on the table. Stacy stood up and walked over to the table as she looked at Chris. She climbed up on the table and stood in front of Chris. She then turned her back to him as she looked at everyone else in the crowd.

"You all need to stop!" Stacy yelled. "It took guts for him to get up here and apologize."

"Take your drama somewhere else!" A student yelled back as they threw their cheeseburger at Stacy.

Stacy wiped the mustard off of her face as she breathed a deep breath. She turned around and looked at Chris again. A smile was formed on her face as she gave him a hug. She whispered into Chris' ear and told him to get down from the table. Once both Stacy and Chris were off the table, they walked back towards the table everyone was sitting at. Stacy was leading the way, since Chris was unsure if he should come back over. Once they reached the table, Chris was welcomed in by a hug from everyone with the exception of Paul and Trish. Obviously his apology worked for everyone but those two, or so Chris had thought.

"Your apology is accepted." Paul replied. "But it doesn't mean we can act like it didn't happen just yet."

"Thanks." Chris said nodding his head.

"Come here!" Paul rolled his eyes giving Chris a hug. "It's nice to have the old Jericho back."

"It does feel nice to be back." Chris smiled slightly as he looked over at Trish.

Stacy nudged Trish in the side. Trish looked up at Chris and met his eyes. She believed his apology, but she just didn't want t forgive him so easily. He had taken advantage of her. A thought came into Trish's head as well. If Paul could forgive the guy that stabbed him and put him in the hospital, then she could forgive him as well. She could forgive him, and work on their friendship again. As bad as she wanted to be with him again, it couldn't happen just yet. That would still need time to blossom again, even though it was her fault they broke up in the first place. Pushing all those thoughts behind her, and with her walls still up she walked over to Chris and gave him a hug. Chris accepted the hug quickly and eagerly. His heart melted as he held onto her. Now that his friendships were some what repaired, they just needed to work out the kinks in them. Chris had a genuine smile on his face. As he continued to hug Trish, he couldn't help but remember all the good times he had had with her. That would be his next mission. He'd get the love of his life back.

XoxoxoxoX

That is the end of this chapter. I hope you all like this chapter as much as I liked writing it. If you liked this chapter, please let me know. I'd like to know your opinion of my story and writing. So, please review

Citcat


	50. The Truth Comes Out

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 50: The Truth Comes Out

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

The bell sounded for school to be over. Every student ran out of the classrooms as it was now unofficially winter break. No one ever went to school on a half day, which would be tomorrow. The entire gang had forgiven Chris for his actions, though the wounds were still there. Yes, it may have seen a bit quick to forgive him, but the holidays were coming around and everyone seemed to have bigger hearts. In their eyes, Chris didn't need to be alone over the holidays. They also realized, how can they solve anything if they don't even acknowledge that he was apologizing. Besides the fact that he stood up on a table in the middle of the cafeteria. They forgave him, but the trust was still what Chris was working on.

Stephanie walked out of her classroom and down towards her locker. She hadn't talked to Paul since lunch. He was obviously still upset over the fact that she didn't tell him who she was texting. Steph knew she shouldn't have gotten so upset with him when he questioned her, but she didn't want to tell him. If she told him, he'd surely get upset and blow things out of proportion. As she walked down the hall, she saw up at his locker putting his books away. She walked up and over to him as he shut his locker.

"Hey." Stephanie said softly as she stood by his side, getting a nod in return. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Paul answered putting his back pack on his back.

"Do you want to do something?" Stephanie asked as she looked up at him.

"Not really." Paul spoke again as he started to walk towards the building exit.

"Well, what do you want to do then?" Stephanie questioned as she walked by his side.

"Nothing." Paul replied simply.

"Are you seriously mad about the texting thing still?" Stephanie sighed.

"Nope." Paul stated as he kept walking.

"Then what's your problem?" Stephanie asked yet again.

"It's none of your concern." Paul responded not once looking at her.

"You got to be kidding me." Stephanie sighed as she stepped in front of him. "The text was nothing important."

"Then why is it such a big secret?" Paul replied in question as he stopped.

"It's not a secret!" Stephanie retorted. "It just not a big deal."

"Then why can't I know?" Paul asked taking his turn in asking questions.

"It's in the past." Stephanie responded. "Why bring up the past again?"

"If it's in the past, then why the secrecy?" Paul questioned tilting his head to the side.

Stephanie stopped before she answered. She knew this wasn't getting her anywhere and he wouldn't give up. If she didn't tell him who she was texting, he surely stay mad with her. Steph took a minute to think about exactly what to tell Paul. She wasn't sure how to tell him, because she knew he'd get angry. She took a little too much time to think about what to say, because Paul beat her to the punch.

"Just forget about it!" Paul stated getting annoyed and he moved around her.

Stephanie shut her eyes as Paul moved around her side. He had began to walk closer and closer to the building exit. Her heart raced as she quickly contemplated telling Paul who she was texting. It would save her the drama and a fight. Although, things could escalate once she told him as well. She turned around and spoke loudly.

"It was Adam!" Stephanie reviled as Paul stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?" Paul shook his head as he turned to look at her. "I could have swore you just said…"

"Yes, I was texting Adam." Stephanie sighed as she looked down at the ground.

"After everything that's happened…" Paul eyed her oddly. "You're talking to the asshole now?"

"It's not even like that." Stephanie replied as she looked up at Paul.

"Oh, then please tell me what it's like." Paul stepped closer to her. "Because I'm dying to know."

"He texted me apologizing for everything." Stephanie looked Paul in his eyes. "He wanted a clean slate before the end of the year. That's all it was."

"You couldn't have told me that earlier?" Paul questioned clearly upset with the fact that she was communicating with Adam.

"I knew you'd get all crazy if I told you." Stephanie bit her bottom lip. "I didn't want you angry or worrying."

"So keeping it from me was better?" Paul looked her in her eyes that looked like they were going to spill with tears.

"I just didn't want to fight with you." Stephanie move her head downwards.

Paul looked at Stephanie standing in front of him. She was clearly upset over this and he knew she was telling the truth. He didn't mean to come off as overprotective or anything. He was just scared to lose her again. He took a deep breath realizing that she had a kind heart and tended to forgive people easily. Hell, they both forgave Chris, so he guessed the same for Adam. Paul slowly moved his arm towards Stephanie pulling her in for a hug. The hug was soft and gentle as he held her in his arms. He could feel her sniffling against his chest. Paul began to rub her back in comfort.

"I'm sorry." Paul whispered near her ear. "I was inconsiderate, forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me for not telling you." Stephanie spoke as her arms trailed around his back.

"I love you." Paul smiled using one of his hands to move her chin up to look at him.

"I love you too." Stephanie smiled weakly as they looked at one another.

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy walked out to her car as school had ended. Lucky for her the rain had subsided from earlier. She left quickly, not wanting to get caught up with anyone. This break would be the best time to work on her 'me' time. She knew exactly what she meant by 'me' time. It was time spent figuring out what exactly she wanted and worked best for her. Stacy believed that Andrew had done her a favor in breaking up with her. She knew that she wasn't over Randy. She was far from it. Stacy was still in love with him and she knew it. She was positive that it was a strong feeling too. They had broken up for quite some time now. The 'me' time was pretty much to try and get over Randy. If the 'me' time didn't work and she still had strong feelings for Randy by the end of winter break, she didn't know what she was going to do. Her thoughts then drifted over to Candice. Candice had become an amazing friend to Stacy, and she couldn't imagine destroying that. Especially after she told her multiple times that nothing was going on with Randy and herself. She couldn't break her heart. That was one question she planned on figuring out over break, as she planned on staying away from her friends, well more so Randy for the duration of the break. As she put her key in her driver side door to unlock it, Andrew came running up to her.

"Hey Stace!" Andrew said loudly to catch her attention.

"What do you want?" Stacy asked as she was still a bit hurt by his break up.

"I saw you crying yesterday." Andrew replied. "I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stacy spoke as she opened her car door.

"I want you to know that I'm truly sorry." Andrew put his hand on the door. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I didn't mean to hurt you either." Stacy gave him a soft smile.

"So, you don't hate me?" Andrew looked at her twirl her keys around her index finger.

"Hate is such a strong word." Stacy let out a small laugh.

"Ok, thank goodness." Andrew sighed in relief. "I didn't want you to hate me, at least not forever."

"I don't hate you." Stacy half heartedly smiled. "Thanks for taking me out of my denial stage."

"Anything to help." Andrew smiled at her. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see ya." Stacy spoke as Andrew left her.

Stacy then got into her car. She started up the automobile and put it in dear. As she exited the parking lot, she couldn't help but to think about her cousin Hayley. The things that Randy and Candice had told her that she had said were puzzling her. She knew that Hayley liked Randy and she knew that Hayley was still upset with her most likely. Stacy had remembered calling her Aunt the other day asking about Hayley. Her Aunt told her that Hayley went into Greenwich every once in a while to visit her friend Jade. Guessing from her Aunt's words, Hayley had volunteered at the hospital in Greenwich with her friend. Also, that Hayley was currently attending an all girl school, which had special holidays. So that would prove why she would randomly be at Greenwich High School. Stacy shrugged it off as she turned a corner onto another street. Stacy looked down at the passenger seat as she heard her ringtone going off. Looking at the caller ID without moving her hands from the steering wheel, she sighed looking back on the road.

"Let it go Randy."

Stacy spoke to herself as she ignored the cell phone. She understood that Randy was worried about her and wanted to help, but he couldn't help this time. The last thing she needed was for Randy to leave Candice for her. She knew that's what he would do. After lunch, Randy and Stacy had the same class so it was a bit hard for her to not acknowledge him. She felt his eyes on her the entire time during class. She simply ignored it and left the class quickly when the bell sounded. Stacy sighed thinking about that. She didn't mean to be so cold to Randy, but what else could she do? He guy was in love with her and he'd drop anything for her. Stacy moved her hand over to the radio as she turned it up as she continued to drive.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy hung his cell phone up as he got Stacy's voice mail. He sighed as he put his phone back into his pocket. He was worried about her. She wasn't acting the same and he wasn't sure why. Randy had a feeling it had to do with him, seeing that she went out of her way to avoid him. He ran a hand over the back of his neck when he noticed Chris walking up to him. Earlier today he had forgiven him, but he was still weary on Chris' actions. He was trying to work through this, so he was giving Chris the benefit of the doubt.

"Hey Randy…" Chris spoke as he reached him. "What's up?"

"Not much." Randy replied. "You?"

"Nothing really." Chris answered. "How have you been?"

Randy took notice of the awkwardness between the two. It was clearly coming from Chris. He nodded his head in a semi approval of Chris' awkwardness. Randy sensed that Chris was aware of the fact that he was forgiven, but it would still take some time to get things back to the way they were. He had decided to give Chris a break and just act as if nothing had happened.

"I've been great." Randy smiled at Chris. "I hear you met my girlfriend."

"Yeah, she's great." Chris answered returning the smile. "You've got a good one."

"Yeah, I think so too." Randy responded. "Thanks for buying her lunch the other day."

"It was nothing." Chris nodded. "So, she's apart of the group now?"

"I'm assuming so." Randy answered. "Everyone seems to love her."

"That's good." Chris replied. "You two go great together."

"Thanks." Randy answered as a smile began to form on his face. "Speak of the devil."

Chris turned and looked in the direction Randy was looking in. Down the hall, he could see Candice and Trish heading towards them. Chris shook his head at Randy. He could tell that Randy really liked her, and even possibly had fallen for her. Even though Randy was looking at Candice, Chris couldn't help but look at Trish. As they got closer and closer, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He knew that she would be the hardest to repair things with. He didn't understand how it could go from Trish hurting him into him hurting Trish. He didn't care anymore, he wanted to make things better with Trish. He just needed to figure out where to start. Chris was taken out of her thoughts once the girls walked up to them.

"Hey guys." Candice beamed as she went and stood by Randy.

"Hello beautiful." Randy smirked wrapping an arm around Candice.

"Randy, stop it." Candice giggled. "Hi Chris."

"Hi." Chris smiled at Candice then turned to Trish. "Hi, Trish."

"Hi." Trish stated giving a small smile to Chris. "Hey Randy, have you seen Stacy?"

"No, I haven't." Randy answered. "I tried calling her but she didn't answer."

"She left already." Chris spoke up his eyes never leaving Trish.

"How do you know?" Trish questioned as she looked at Chris, but not in the eyes.

"I saw her leave in her car." Chris stated as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I hope she's ok." Candice said worried. "She still hasn't left the couch."

"I tried talking to her yesterday." Randy looked towards Candice. "I don't think it helped."

"Well, at least you tried." Candice smiled.

"Yeah, I did." Randy sighed. "Let's go get a smoothie."

"Ok, bye you guys." Candice announced as she began to pull Randy with her.

"See you two later." Randy laughed as he was being pulled.

Once Randy and Candice left, it had become very awkward. Both Trish and Chris stood standing there unsure what to do or say. Chris wanted to talk, but wasn't sure what to say to start things up. Trish on the other hand wanted to leave as quick as she could, but she didn't want to be rude. It still hurt being around him after what he had done to her. As she thought about it, she actually could understand why Chris was so hurt to be around her when she cheated. A sigh escaped her lips as she decided to just talk to him.

"So…" Trish started out.

"How are you?" Chris questioned in hopes to start a small conversation.

"I've been good." Trish replied. "You?"

"I've been better." Chris said honestly. "I'm glad that you all forgave me."

"Why?" Trish spoke feeling her walls falling down a bit. "Why'd you do it?"

"I was wondering when someone would ask that." Chris looked down at his feet.

"I don't understand." Trish shook her head. "You had everything going for you."

"No I didn't." Chris let out barely in a whisper.

"What are you talking about?" Trish looked at him oddly. "You had five best friends that would have done anything for you, family that loves you, and everything else you could have asked for. So how can you say you didn't have everything?"

"I didn't have you…" Chris trailed off not necessarily wanting to put that out there.

"So you did this all because of me?" Trish bit her bottom lip.

"No, I did it because I didn't have you." Chris began. "I felt like I was nothing without you. My life revolved around you and when you slept with Brock I had a nervous break down. I saw red and I flipped and I didn't know how to control it. I wanted so bad to just forget about it and to just talk to you, but I couldn't. I was way to hurt. Then I realized that it wasn't your fault that you slept with Brock. I'm the one who screwed up, I practically forced you into the arms of another guy. How could I forgive you, when I couldn't even forgive myself. All I ever wanted was you."

Trish stood their as she watched Chris talk, more towards the ground. He would casually look up at her as he spoke, but it was rare. She didn't know that he felt like that and that things went that deep. He felt like he was to blame for the wrong that she had done. Her heart wanted to leap out to him, but she wouldn't let it. As much as her walls were starting to crack, they hadn't collapsed just yet. For the first time in a long time, she saw the Chris that she had fallen in love with. Trish met his eyes as he had looked up from the floor. Worry was written on his face. She couldn't understand what he was so worried about until she realized he was finished talking and she was just standing there. Trish shook her head as she came back into reality. She stepped closer to him and she slowly wrapped her arms around him for a hug. He gently returned the hug. They both had missed the feeling of being in each others arms. The speech that Chris had just made most of the awkwardness go away for the time being. Trish pulled out of the hug as she looked at him.

"Friends for now?" Trish put the idea out there. "Clean slate?"

"I can work with that." Chris gave her a soft smile.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please let me know what you think. Are you loving it, hating it, it's ok, what? Again, thank you to all my readers and reviewers. I write for you all!

Citcat


	51. Snowy Dates

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 51: Snowy Dates

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

A week had passed by and it was the day before Christmas Eve. It was December 23rd and there was a beautiful blanket of snow on the ground alongside snowflakes in the sky that kept falling. It looked like it was going to be a white Christmas this year in Greenwich, Connecticut. The week and few days had flown by rather smoothly and peacefully. There was no arguments nor drama. Everyone was getting along too, with the exception of Randy and Stacy. Those two haven't seen much of each other to really be able to get along with one another, but they weren't fighting, so that was a good thing. Chris had actually been slowly hanging out with each friend individually to regain the trust that he lost. It was coming back slowly, and more likely after break, things would be like they used to be again. Trish and Chris had begun to hang out more and more as well, mending the friendship that they once had. Paul and Stephanie of course had been hanging out a lot with one another as well too. They weren't seen much by the group too, due to Paul getting his stitches out. The couple took full advantage of that. Also, as a group everyone would hang out. Yes, that consisted of all six or seven of them depending if Candice tagged along or not. The break was well needed, as many friendships were bonded and became stronger then before.

XoX

Stacy sat on her king size bed flipping through a magazine in her black spandex shorts and light purple tank top. She didn't have much planned today, other then staying in today. She hadn't been home much since break started. She was out shopping or hanging out with her friends the last week or so. It was time to take some more 'me' time. She had not really seen nor hung out with Randy the past week or so. There was group hang outs, but she steered clear of Randy when attending them. Stacy soon moved to lay on her stomach as she continued to flip through her magazine. She looked up as the door to her bedroom opened up. In walked Candice removing her t-shirt. She was now only clad in her black sweats and blue bra. Candice walked over to her part of the closet, and started to go through the clothes that she had.

"Going somewhere?" Stacy questioned as she watched Candice in the closet.

"Yeah, Randy wants to take me to lunch." Candice replied looking through shirts.

"Ooo, a lunch date." Stacy smirked as she looked back down at her magazine.

"Yeah, I guess so." Candice smiled. "What are you doing today?"

"Oh, nothing." Stacy answered, her eyes not leaving her magazine.

"Why don't you hang out with Andrew anymore?" Candice questioned picking out a shirt.

"Uh, well…" Stacy contemplated on telling Candice or not.

"Well what?" Candice asked as she started to look for a good pair of pants.

"Andrew and I broke up." Stacy decided to just tell her, since no one else knew besides Trish for the time being.

"Are you serious?" Candice almost gave herself whiplash as she turned to look at Stacy.

"Yeah, we hadn't seen much of each other." Stacy responded as she turned a page.

"I'm so sorry." Candice frowned. "Is that why you've been acting so strange?"

"I guess you could say that's why." Stacy spoke as she only told the partial truth. She clearly couldn't tell Candice that she was in love with Randy. It would kill her.

"Aw, why didn't you tell me?" Candice replied finding a pair of pants. "I would have comforted you, hell, Randy would have helped too."

"It's ok, I needed to get through it on my own." Stacy smiled up at Candice as she began to change.

"Ok, well if you ever need anything, I'm here." Candice returned the smile. "Literally, I'm here."

"Gottcha." Stacy giggled shaking her head as she sat up on her bed. "I'm going to go get something to drink."

With that said, Stacy got off her bed and walked out the door, shutting it behind her. She quickly made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Candice was always a sweetheart to her and she loved her for it. Stacy had actually shocked herself in her actions. Usually when it came to her feelings for Randy, she would have made him hers by now, but things were different with Candice. She believed it had to do with the fact that she was living with her and had become really close with her. There was no way she would ruin their friendship. After searching around in the fridge, she grabbed a water bottle and shut the fridge behind her. She twisted the top off as their was a knock on the door. Stacy looked around, noting that the parents were not home. Seeing that Candice was upstairs, Stacy made her way over to the door. As she walked over to the door she took a drink of her water. Once reaching the door, she took another drink as she answered the knock on the door. She finished her drink as she dried the sides of her mouth with the back of her hand as a small smile quickly crept onto her face.

"Randy, hey." Stacy spoke up. "I forgot you were on your way over here."

"Hey, I take it Candice told you?" Randy smiled at her.

"Yeah, a lunch date." Stacy raised her eyebrows. "Sounds fun."

"I hope so." Randy replied. "Where's Candice?"

"Oh, she's upstairs changing." Stacy answered. "Come in."

Stacy moved to the side of the door allowing Randy the entrance to walk through. Randy walked inside as Stacy looked back outside the door. It was still snowing and it was sticking. She smiled at the snow falling as she shut the door. Stacy loved the snow. Once the door was shut, she turned around and noticed Randy sitting on the sofa in the living room. She walked over and sat down on the recliner and rocked back and forth in it. Stacy's eyes examined Randy as he sat on the couch. He looked like he was in thought about something.

"What are you thinking about?" Stacy questioned as she set her water bottle on the table next to her.

"Oh, nothing." Randy replied.

"Liar." Stacy shook her head. "I've known you way too long to know when something's up."

"Yeah, I guess so." Randy stated as he looked towards her. "You seem to be in better spirits since last we talked."

"Yeah, I am." Stacy sighed figuring out that he may have been thinking about that.

"That's good." Randy nodded in approval. "I was starting to miss the old Stacy."

"I was too." Stacy smiled softly. "Sorry for the way I had acted."

"Well, as long as you are done with it now." Randy smiled back. "Then I'm ok with it."

"Sounds good to me." Stacy answered as she looked down at her fingers.

"You know, if you want…" Randy began. "We could turn the lunch date into a double date?"

"A double date?" Stacy laughed sarcastically, as she forgot that Randy was unaware of the break up with Andrew. "Who would I go with?"

"Um, your boyfriend, Andrew?" Randy looked at her oddly.

"Oh yeah…" Stacy trailed off for a second. "We, uh, well, we broke up."

"You two what?" Randy was in shock. "I thought you really liked him?"

"Yeah, I did." Stacy replied unsure if telling Randy was the right thing to do. "But we never really saw each other or hung out."

"That's understandable." Randy responded as he examined Stacy in the recliner.

"Oh, you're here already!" Candice spoke as she came down the stairs.

"Yeah, just waiting on you." Randy smiled standing up. "I didn't want to rush you, so I held off on having Stacy go and get you."

"Well aren't you sweet." Candice smirked as she looked over at Stacy. "See you later Stace!"

"Yeah, bye Stace." Randy said as well.

"Bye you two." Stacy answered. "Have fun."

Stacy watched as the two exited the house. The second that Stacy had seen Randy standing at her front door, she knew that her feelings for him wouldn't change. She was in love with him, and would be for a long time. The smile that had formed on her face as he was standing there was purely because she had missed seeing and talking to him. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about the situation at hand. She had to play things cool and just be his friend. That's all they could be. It was going to be hard for her, but it would be worth it to see them both happy. Another thing that Stacy couldn't help but thing about was if she did the right thing in telling Randy about her break up. She wasn't sure if Randy still had the same feelings for her anymore. He had been spending more time with Candice, and Stacy had assumed that he was falling for Candice. Another sigh came from Stacy. Randy was or already had fallen for Candice from the time she told him they couldn't be together at the hospital up until this point. She'd lost the love of her life and she had to settle for his friendship. Stacy was fine with that, she was only hoping that she could move on.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy and Candice entered a small restaurant for their lunch date. He had held the door open, allowing Candice to walk through first. He followed suit, as a hostess quickly sat them in a booth by the window. Rather then sitting next to each other, they sat across from each other. Both of their heads were in the menu deciding on what they wanted. Randy quickly chose his meal as he looked up at Candice who was still looking. He smiled as he watched her eyes roam about the menu. She would make small little faces at what obviously, must have sounded good and bad. He couldn't help but keep smiling as he watched her. Candice quickly felt like she was being watch. She looked up and noticed Randy staring at her.

"What?" Candice questioned. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No, I'm just admiring you." Randy stated taking her hand into his from across the table.

"Well aren't you the charmer like always." Candice giggled as she shut her menu.

The waitress came over to their table, taking their drink orders as well as their food orders. Once the waitress left, Randy continued to stare at Candice, causing her to blush. Feeling Randy's eyes on her was enough to turn her a deep shade of pink. She tried to keep to calm down a bit, by distracting herself by looking out at the snow that was still falling. By the looks of it, it was getting heavier.

"You know I'm not going to stop staring at you." Randy grinned noticing her trying to avoid it.

"I don't see why you wouldn't." Candice turned to him. "I'm not that cute."

"Yeah, you aren't." Randy spoke agreeing with her.

"What?" Candice was in shock that Randy had even said that. "I'm not cute?"

"No, you're not…" Randy wasn't able to finish as Candice snatched her hand away from him.

"Well, you're not handsome." Candice folded her arms as she diverted her stare to the window, yet still watching him out the corner of her eye.

"Aw, you didn't let me finish." Randy stuck his bottom lip out. "You aren't cute, because you are beautiful."

"Now you're just saying that to get out of trouble." Candice smirked to herself.

"No I'm not." Randy replied as she allowed him to take her hand again. "I was really going to say it, honest."

"I believe you." Candice blushed again.

Randy smiled at her as he leaned over the table a bit, with Candice meeting him halfway. Their lips met at the middle of the table and they kissed for a minute or two. It was no make out session though. It was only a sweet and soft kiss. They both returned to their rightful seats. With in a matter of seconds, the waitress was back with their drinks and lunch. She placed the items on the table and made sure that the couple was taken care of. Once she left, Randy and Candice began to eat their lunch. It was quiet at the beginning as the only sounds being heard from them were munching ones. They would look up at one another and smile and then return to their meals. Half way through their meal, Randy sat back in the booth.

"That was pretty good." Randy spoke patting his flat stomach.

"I guess it was." Candice smirked eyeing Randy's plate. "The poor burger stood no chance against you."

"Ha Ha." Randy smiled as he spoke sarcastically. "I'm a growing boy."

"Oh, so you're just a boy?" Candice raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Randy answered taking a second to think about it. "Boys tend to get what they want most of the time."

"Really, is that so?" Candice giggled. "I'd like to see that happen."

"I got you didn't I?" Randy nodded with a huge smirk plastered on his face.

"Oh, don't get cocky now." Candice spoke as she finished off her water.

"Ok, fine." Randy sighed. "How about we get out of here and go do something?"

"Sounds good to me." Candice replied as she stood up alongside Randy.

The couple stood up and Randy put a twenty and a five dollar bill on the table enough for the bill and a tip. They exited the building and headed out to the snow. The snow came down on them and began to stick to their jackets. Randy smirked as he watched Candice take a picture of herself in the snow. He couldn't stop himself as he ran up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He placed his head in the crook of her neck and kissed her cheek. At that moment, Candice had snapped her camera on the phone and the picture was taken. She turned her phone around to look at the picture and a smile formed on both of their faces as they looked at the picture. Randy then helped Candice into his car, and he then got into the drivers side. He started the vehicle and made his way out of the parking lot.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris walked around the park area. He always loved walking in the snow. It was really peaceful to him and it relaxed him. Any walk always gave him time to think. Chris began to think about the past week. He had gotten his friends back, and they were all starting to trust him again. In a matter of a week, Chris had worked hard to impress, improve and regain their trust to regain the friendships that they once had. He was surprised that it was as easy as it was. He assumed that it was because of the holiday season. Everyone was always more cheerful and giving around this time. He was happy about it, and he swore to himself that he wouldn't screw up like that again. As he went to make a slight turn, he felt a snowball hit him in the back. He turned around and saw no one standing there. Chris rolled his eyes assuming that it was just a bunch of kids fooling around. He ignored it as he continued on his walk. Once he continued on his walk, he felt another snowball hit him again. This time when Chris turned around, a smile came upon his face as he saw Trish laughing. He had found his culprit and she was walking over his way, with her hands up in the air, to show she was unarmed.

"I cave, it was me." Trish gave herself up. "You as a target is really tempting."

"I'm so sure I am." Chris shook his head with a small chuckle. "What are you up to?"

"I was just walking around, and then I saw you." Trish replied. "You want someone to walk with?"

"If you want." Chris smiled at her as they began to walk.

They walked around the park a few times just talking. In the process of making their next circle around, Chris managed to make a snowball with the snow off of objects. That was able to keep Trish from questioning him about bending over to make one. Chris casually slowed down his pace as Trish continued in front of him. Once she was a good distance ahead of him and still talking to herself rather then to Chris, he threw the snowball at her. Trish instantly turned around to see Chris already on the ground making his next ball. Trish shook her head, as she leaned down as well. This meant war. The two fired snowballs back and forth at one another for about ten minutes. They both got a fair share of hits on the other. Chris smirked, as he made a snowball in the palm of his hands. He stayed down low, waiting for Trish to hit him with her next snowball. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her arm extend back. Once she let go of the snowball, Chris made sure that the ball hit him in the face. He quickly used his free hand to grab his face where the snowball hit him. Jericho would pull it off that Trish had hit him with a ball of ice and then he would get her.

"Ahhh." Chris moaned holding onto his cheek.

"I'm sorry." Trish came running up to him. "Are you ok?"

"I think you hit me with an ice ball." Chris spoke not moving his hand from his cheek.

"Oh, no." Trish stated with worry clear in her voice. "Let me see."

"No, it could be ugly." Chris answered as Trish put her hands on his hand that was on his cheek.

"Well, let me see, so I know if we should go get you cleaned up." Trish spoke afraid that she had really hurt him.

Chris then quickly moved his hand from his cheek and grabbing her arm gently. A look of confusion came across Trish's face as she noticed not even a small welt or bruise forming. Hey eyes grew wider, as she saw the snow ball in Chris' hand. She knew that she had been fooled. Chris had taken the snowball and put it down the back of Trish's shirt. She squealed out as the cold snow ran down her back. Her back tensed up trying to escape the cold sensation. Trish instinctively grabbed a hold of Chris' arms, as if it would help with the cold. She was clearly wrong when the melted snow trickled to the lower part of her back. This had caught Trish off guard as she stepped the wrong way and fell backwards into the snow, taking Chris with her. Chris landed on top of her gently and softly. The two began to laugh as they laid on the snow not moving. Chris never thought to move his body from off of the top of Trish. As they continued to laugh and lay there, they let their eyes meet. The laughter subsided quickly as they kept their stare. Chris had the urge to just lean down and kiss her, but wasn't sure if he should. They just repaired things, and he didn't want to make things anymore awkward just yet. Chris slowly got off of Trish, and made it to his feet. As he dusted himself off, he smirked as he looked at the small snow bank in front of him.

"Sorry about that." Chris spoke offering his hand out to help her up.

"It's ok." Trish smiled, taking a hold of his hand. "It's all fun and games."

Trish couldn't help but be a little disappointed that Chris hadn't of kissed her. She swore he was going to lean in and do it, but he didn't. She knew better then that though, since it was her idea to stay friends for now. She needed to let things play out and let whatever happens happen. Trish pulled herself up with the help of Chris. When their hands touched, Trish couldn't help but stare at their hands as one. She shook her head, as she looked up on him. Chris had a smug smirk on his face and Trish was curious as to why. He was up to something. Her question was answered, when she felt him grab a hold of her waist. He moved a bit closer to the snow bank and he gently threw her into the snow bank. Snow toppled down on Trish, but only a little bit. Not enough to burry her under it. Trish bit her lip while she smirked as well. He thought he was good, but she'd show him. Trish quickly made it to her feet as she charged at Chris. She tackled him down to the ground of snow as they began to wrestle each other. They rolled around on the white ground trying to pin one another. In the process of rolling Chris over, a little bit of snow managed to slide into his shirt. This caused Chris to put his guard down, as Trish rolled on top and pinning him.

"Pinned ya." Trish smirked as she held Chris' arms down towards the ground.

"You may have won the battle…" Chris smirked. "But the war isn't over."

"It is for you my friend." Trish winked at him, as she stayed on top of him.

The two began to laugh again, and then it happened again. Their eyes met for the second time. The only difference was that Trish was on top and Chris was on the bottom. Both their hearts began to race as they stared at one another with wondering eyes. Trish without thinking leaned her head down a little closer to Chris. He followed in by leaning his head up closer to Trish. Their eyes never left each other as they inched closer and closer. Their hearts raced and their breathing became slow and mellow. Their lips were a centimeter apart from touching, when a couple kids ran by. They both came out of their trance and shaking their heads. Trish realizing the current situation and position they were in, she quickly stood up and got off of Chris. He helped himself up as they both brushed off.

"I should get going." Trish spoke up as she turned to Chris. "I told my dad I would be home an hour ago."

"Ok…" Chris nodded in approval. "Can I walk you home?"

"Yeah, you can." Trish smiled softly. "I'd like that."

"I would too." Chris smiled as he put a friendly arm around Trish's shoulders and they began to walk to Trish's house.

XoxoxoxoX

Paul and Stephanie walked around the Christmas tree lot looking at numerous trees. Stephanie had brought Paul along with her, because she was picking out the tree this year on her own. Both her parents were called away for a business meeting and they wouldn't be back until later that night. Shane was away with his girlfriend Marissa. He would be home on Christmas Eve though. Vince had given Stephanie the money to buy the tree and Stephanie gladly accepted it. Stephanie loved picking out the Christmas tree, it was always her favorite part. A tree was different in every way to her. To Paul they all looked the same, the only difference being that some were tall and some were short. He didn't mind though, as long as he was spending time with Stephanie. They walked hand in hand as Stephanie drug him around the area. She was like an excited little school girl walking down the candy aisle. It put a smile on his face as she walked over to a tree to examine it.

"Paul, can you lift it up right please?" Stephanie smiled as she asked with her eyes.

He chuckled to himself, not being able to say no to her. The look she had on her face was adorable. As he pulled the tree up from it's leaning position he shook the snow, that had fallen onto the tree off of it and onto the ground. He looked over at her as she stood with her hands on her hips. A smile formed on his face as he looked her over. She was wearing tight jean pants that were a very light shade of blue. They rose up to her hips, giving them the name of 'hip huggers'. Her white puffy jacket hid her baby pink t-shirt underneath. She had her jacket zipped up all the way, with a little stop at the neck. The jacket fit her perfectly. It wasn't too baggy nor too small. She wore pink and white tennis shoes that matched her outfit, along with the gloves placed on her hands. Her hat that she wore on her head to keep her warm was pink and white as well. On each side of the hat, there were two flaps that went over her ears to keep them warm. Two strings hung from the flaps and they dangled on the sides. The bottom half of her hair was naturally down and had flakes of snow in it. Paul studied her face as she examined the tree some more. Her eyes looked the tree up and down, and from side to side. A sparkle was clear in her soft blue eyes. She bit her bottom lip contemplating if she liked it or not. Paul couldn't help but continue to smile. She was simply beautiful in his eyes.

"I like this one." Stephanie smiled looking towards Paul. "I want it!"

"This one it is then." Paul replied setting the tree down.

"Have you two picked a tree?" The sales man questioned making his rounds.

"Yeah, we'd like this one" Paul answered. "Can you put it on the red H2 Hummer out there?"

"Not a problem." He spoke to Paul. "The lady at the RV will take care of the charges."

"Thanks." Paul stated as he walked over to Stephanie. "Let's go pay for it."

The couple made their way to the RV, where Stephanie paid for the tree with the money Vince had given her. Paul waited by the small outdoor wood burner trying to keep warm. He held his hands near the flame that was blocked by the door, so as to keep the flame tamed. He turned his head over towards the RV as he watched Stephanie interact with the lady she was paying. The same smile crept up on his face again as he watched her. Stephanie turned around and walked back over to him with a smile plastered on her face.

"You ready to go?" Stephanie questioned as her eyes looked up and met his.

"Yeah, I am." Paul smiled at her as he took her hand into his.

"You're really happy today." Stephanie replied taking notice of his many smiles.

"I'm with you, that's why." Paul grinned as he stopped walking and pulled her towards him.

"Aw, aren't you sweet." Stephanie smiled as she stood face to face with him.

"And you're just the cutest little thing." Paul spoke pulling her closer to him.

Paul then took his hands and took a hold of the strings on her hat. He pulled them down gently and crossed them, so the strings outlined her face. Her eyes sparkled brightly as he gazed into them with love. He watched as she smiled up at him with her purely white teeth. Paul returned her smile and leaned in for a sweet and short kiss. Paul pulled away and just looked at her and into her eyes as she smiled at him. There was no doubt about it, he was in love with her. It wasn't no 'puppy love' either, it was full fledged love. Paul knew that they both were in high school, but that didn't change his mind on how he felt. He wasn't sure if she felt as strong as he did, but there was not doubt about it in his mind, Stephanie McMahon was '_the one'_.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy reading this one. I really liked writing this one. I think its one of my best chapters so far. Well, in my opinion.

Thanks again to all my reviewers and please keep them coming.

Citcat


	52. Christmas Eve

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 52: Christmas Eve

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

It was a snowy, white Christmas Eve. It was truly noticeable that Christmas was here. It was snowing, the grounds, trees, houses, cars, and most everything was coated with snow as it continued to fall. Every family had their Christmas trees up and decorated. There were Christmas lights up on every house in the neighborhood. People were joining together for their Christmas Eve parties and some were just enjoying their time with their families. As for the gang, they all were hanging out at Randy's house this year. They always alternated, and it was now his turn. They were all there with the exception of Candice. Her and her mother had gone out to dinner that night, because Candice's mother had something to talk to her about. All six of the friends, misusing Paul and Stephanie, packed themselves into Randy's spacious room. Chris sat on Randy's desk chair that was near the window, and alongside him, Randy sat in his bean bag chair. Both Stacy and Trish had made themselves at home by laying on Randy's bed.

"I bet this is the most action Randy's bed has seen." Trish laughed at the random thought that had came into her head.

"That was a good one." Stacy giggled along as the two rolled around on the bed.

"Dude, you're totally going to let them clown on your like that?" Chris spoke laughing as well.

"You all need to shut up." Randy stated as he smiled at their joke. "I get action."

"What, with your hand?" Trish couldn't help but laugh, as she felt very humorous tonight.

"Damn Trish." Chris and Stacy spoke at the same time as their heads turned to Randy.

"You're lucky its Christmas Eve." Randy shook his head at his friend.

"Ok, ok." Trish took deep breathes to calm down. "I'll stop… for now."

"You're mean." Stacy nudged her friend in the side.

"It was funny, and you know it." Trish smirked getting a smirk in return from Stacy.

The four began another conversation as they all just hung out. Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, Stacy's mind wandered off. She was in her own little world as she looked around Randy's room from her now sitting position. Her eyes scanned his room as she saw numerous pictures of himself and Candice. A small frown formed on her face taking in all the pictures of Candice that she seen. Stacy loved Candice to death, but that didn't mean she could be a bit jealous of her. She began to think when her own picture was everywhere in his room. As she looked around the room, she came across one picture of her and Randy. It was in a frame on the shelf above his desk. It was a random snap shot of their faces. Their faces were touching cheek to cheek and they both had big, white teeth smiling smiles. They both wore a pair of sunglasses covering their eyes. It was one of their favorite pictures, though the picture was taken when they were just friends. It was taken their junior year of high school at the beach. A sad smile came on her face remembering the good times. She sighed as she came back into reality. Stacy had to remind herself not to dwell on the past, since Randy was clearly moving on with Candice. When Stacy finally decided to engage back into the conversation her friends were talking about, she noticed them all staring at her.

"You ok?" Chris questioned. "You looked like you were about to cry."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stacy smiled. "Just went off in la la land."

"Scared us there for a moment." Trish stated as she sat up next to Stacy.

This time when the four started talking, Randy couldn't help but watch Stacy. She had gone from almost looking like she was going to cry, to being happy. She was sitting on his bed with her legs crossed and laughing and smiling. He could still his friends talking and would nod here and there to let them know he was still paying attention. His eyes stayed focused on Stacy, but not too intently. He didn't want her to know he was staring at her. Something was wrong with her, and he still couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't think it had anything to do with Andrew, he was pretty sure about that. As Randy watched Stacy, he couldn't deny that he was still in love with her, but as time was going by, he fell for Candice. Being able to watch Stacy in the way he was, he knew that he would always love Stacy. Randy came to the conclusion that he was in love with Candice. A smile came to his face as he began to think of when to tell Candice. It had to be special. He'd wait until Valentine's Day. Randy quickly dropped his thoughts as he joined the conversation again.

"Where the hell is Paul and Steph?" Trish questioned. "They were supposed to be here an hour ago."

"You know those two." Stacy giggled at the thought.

"Don't remind us Stace!" Randy covered his ears.

"What are you talking about?" Chris asked, not knowing the closeness of Stephanie and Paul's relationship.

"Let's just say…" Trish thought of how to put it. "Paul and Stephanie's beds get more action then Randy's bed."

"HEY!!" Randy hollered as Trish and Stacy laughed. "You said no more."

"No, I said for now." Trish giggled.

"You mean to tell me they…" Chris cut himself off not wanting to finish the sentence. "That's my cousin."

"Your baby cousin is all grown up." Stacy smirked as she was still laughing.

"Seriously though, I really wonder where they are." Trish spoke as she again calmed herself down for the second time.

XoxoxoxoX

Meanwhile, Paul and Stephanie were walking together at the park in the snow. They had been at the park walking for a couple of hours now. They had spaced on time, forgetting that they were supposed to be at Randy's house. Time had flew by before their eyes. The couple was still walking around the park, both unaware of the time. They walked side by side, as Paul's arm was wrapped around her shoulder. Stephanie hand was stretched upwards to hold Paul's hand in her. The two walked in silence and talking here and there. They were basically just enjoying their time together. Stephanie casually looked over at Paul's and her hands entwined as one. A smile came on her face, and then she noticed the watch on Paul's wrist. Her eyes slowly widen as she looked up at Paul.

"We're late!" Stephanie screeched. "They are going to kill us."

"What?" Paul questioned removing his arm and looking at his watch. "Wow, time sure flew."

"We better get over there now." Stephanie stated as they both turned around. "Or they'll start talking about us."

"Let them talk." Paul laughed. "We pretty much gave them something to talk about."

"Not intentionally." Stephanie blushed thinking about when her friends had walked in on them.

"True." Paul smiled as he looked around, picking this as the right time. "I have to talk to you first."

"Can it wait?" Stephanie asked. "We're already an hour late."

"No, it can't wait." Paul spoke. "What's another few minutes going to hurt?"

"Ok, what's up?" Stephanie questioned looking at Paul.

Paul moved in front of Stephanie as he took hold of her hands. He held them as his fingers played with hers. Stephanie looked down at their hands and back up at him. She was a bit confused at his actions and what he wanted to talk about. A lump got caught in her throat as the thought of him breaking up with her came into her mind. He wouldn't do that would he? No, he loved her, she was just being paranoid. She watched him taking a deep breath and her heart raced. Stephanie just wished that he would come out and say it already as she waited. Steph's heart continued to race when she seen him take a deep breath before he started to speak.

"Steph, you know I love you right." Paul spoke as he looked down at her.

"Yeah…" Stephanie's voice quivered as she spoke.

"I know, that you love me too." Paul continued on.

"Yeah…" Stephanie again stated as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

He paused again, causing Stephanie to become nervous. Her heart never stopped racing as he just stood there looking at her with no emotion. Stephanie started to bite on her lower lip as she waited impatiently for him to keep going. She desperately wanted him to just spit it out. Her head looked down at their hands still connected together. Tears stung the back of her eyes as she felt them starting to well up. Paul taking his sweet time with his words was driving her insane. She didn't know how much longer she could wait. He instantly took notice of her uneasiness and the welling of her tears. A small smile came on his face as he took his hands away from her, and took his gloves off. He then took his hands to each side of her face, and gently wiped the forming tears away. Stephanie looked up at the smile on his face, as if it were to reassure her of his motives.

"I'm sorry this is taking so long." Paul began. "I just wasn't sure where to begin."

"Can you just tell me please?" Stephanie begged with her eyes.

"Yeah, I can." Paul started. "Stephanie, I love you. We've become so close over the last few months. Our friendship blossomed into this amazing relationship that we have. We've had our ups and downs, but we always manage to get through them." He kept going as he took a hold of her hands again. "I've been thinking lately, about you, myself and us. I can't picture you with anyone else, and when I do, it makes me angry and upset. Then I remember, you're mine anyway. Then I try to picture myself with someone else, but I just can't. The only person I want to be with is you and only you. I couldn't imagine not being with you. Stephanie, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I don't ever want to let you go."

Paul looked down at Stephanie's hands and began to take her white gloves off. Stephanie bit her bottom lip as a few tears had slid down her face from his little speech. She had gotten herself all worked up over nothing. Stephanie's eyes watched him intently as he placed both of her gloves in his pockets. He then pulled out a small black velvet box. She quickly looked from his hands to his eyes and back to his hands. Her eyes watched as he slowly opened the box and closed the gap between them. Steph's eyes grew slightly bigger as she analyzed the contents in the small box. A sparkling silver ring was inside. There were no rocks on it what so ever. The ring had pink sparkles embedded into the ring. Paul pulled the ring out of the box and showed her the inscription inside. "_Paul & Steph Love Always" _Her eyes began to tear up again as she read the small saying over and over in her head. She looked up at him as he began to speak.

"I know we've pretty much been going steady." Paul smiled at her with love in his eyes. "But, I want to be with you forever. So, I got you this promise ring, that is until we're both ready to settle down. Steph, would you wear my ring?"

"Yes!" Stephanie practically cried out as he slipped the ring on her ring finger. "I love you!"

Once the ring was fully placed on her finger, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. His arms quickly wrapped his arms around her waist tightly holding on to her. She had just made him the happiest guy at the moment. Stephanie pulled slightly out of the hug and smiled up at him. She then leaned in and kissed him with a lot of passion. He returned the kiss quickly. After a short make out session, they broke apart as they held each others hands and looked into one another's eyes.

"We can go now." Paul smirked wrapping an arm around her waist and giving her gloves back with his other hand.

"Aw, do we have to?" Stephanie questioned admiring her ring before putting her gloves on.

"We're late babe." Paul spoke as they walked. "Like you said, they are probably already talking."

"Well, like you said…" Stephanie grinned up at him. "We've already given them something to talk about."

"You do have a point." Paul leaned down and kissed her cheek. "But they are our friends."

"Fine." Stephanie giggled as they headed for Randy's house.

XoxoxoxoX

Twenty minutes had passed since Randy, Stacy, Chris and Trish had realized that Paul and Stephanie hadn't shown up yet. They all had shrugged it off and were watching music videos on Randy's TV. All four of them had crammed into the bed, to be more comfortable. Chris and Randy were sitting up against the headboard while Trish and Stacy sat between their legs. Trish was subconsciously leaned back against Chris' chest and her hands rested on his knees. Stacy was sitting normally and not touching Randy at all. Randy and Stacy sat in a complete friendly manner where as Chris and Trish could give off the impression that they were together again. Paul and Stephanie silently walked in and took in the scene that was in front of them.

"If looks could kill." Paul chuckled as he entered the room fully.

"You're telling me." Stephanie giggled shaking her head.

Trish and Stacy's heads shot towards the door. When seeing Stephanie, they both shot up off the bed and ran over to her hugging her. All three guys stared at the three girls. Stephanie herself was in shock by the reaction of her friends. She gladly hugged them back. Paul, Randy and Chris all exchanged looks between one another. Paul took his jacket off and hung it over Randy's chair. He then sat down in the same chair. Stacy and Trish looked Stephanie over examining her.

"We thought he killed you!" Trish spoke over exaggerating her words.

"Shut up." Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Why would he kill me?"

"Well then, what the hell took so long?" Stacy questioned looking at her friend.

"We just got caught up." Stephanie blushed as she felt the ring from under her gloves.

"OHHHH!!!" Trish and Stacy replied in union.

"It wasn't even like that." Stephanie smiled as her pinks turned a darker shade of pink.

"Hello, guys over here!" Randy waved his arms in the air.

"Yeah, there are other friends in the room." Chris joined along.

"Just let them talk." Paul smiled as he watched Stephanie. "Their about to leave the room anyway."

"How do you know?" Chris questioned looking at the girls watch Stephanie take her jacket off.

"Because I'm the cause of it." Paul grinned as Stephanie placed her jacket on the chair he was sitting on.

"Stephanie what the…" Trish's words failed as she looked at the shinning thing on Stephanie's hand from when she took the glove off.

"OMG!!" Stacy's eyes widen at the sight in front of her.

"We'll be back guys!" Trish and Stacy spoke pulling Stephanie out the room.

The girls left the room with the guys staring after them. All three guys sat in the room staring at the door. After a minute, Chris and Randy turned and looked at Paul. They shook their heads as they looked at him. Paul had just put the icing on the cake. There was no way, that Randy nor Chris could top this one. They guys always liked to out do one another with their girlfriends. Although, Chris didn't have a girlfriend at the moment, he was keeping his eye on Trish. So, in the end it would get back around to Chris obviously. Randy had the same deal, but with Candice. Things were going great with her, and now Paul had to go buy Stephanie a ring.

"Are you serious?" Randy questioned looking at Paul.

"Yeah, what the hell man??" Chris asked in confusion.

"What?" Paul smiled at his friends. "Can't a guy buy his girlfriend a ring?"

"A fucking promise ring?" Chris let out. "That's like giving up everything in the world."

"You're tossing everything out the window for Steph?" Randy said shock clear in his voice.

"I love her." Paul responded. "I can't picture myself with anyone else."

"Damn dude, what are you getting married next?" Randy said sarcastically.

"When we're ready too." Paul replied.

"We haven't even graduated high school yet!" Chris exclaimed rubbing his forehead.

"You can't help who you fall in love with." Paul smiled. "You both should know."

"Yeah, I guess." Randy replied. "But it's not that strong."

"Maybe it is, and you two just can't see it." Paul continued. "Because all you were able to see were the faults in the relationship."

"Maybe." Randy and Chris said at the same time.

"Switching topics off of me." Paul smirked. "Chris, you and Trish looked pretty cozy."

"We're friends." Chris stated the truth.

"Doesn't hide the fact that you want her." Paul grinned.

"And she wants him." Randy eyed Chris.

"No she doesn't." Chris sighed to himself.

"That's not what it sounded like." Randy crossed his arms.

"What happened?" Paul questioned. "Why am I the one left out?"

"One, because you're always with Steph." Randy laughed. "Two, you were late because you were with Steph."

"Fine, what happened?" Paul asked Chris.

"We almost kissed twice, but she pulls away." Chris told Paul as he ran a hand through his hair.

"She'll come around." Randy nodded. "We are still getting over what happened."

"I know." Chris stated looking at his hands. "She's the only one I've actually ever been happy with."

"Hmmm." Paul smirked to himself cockily. "What was that?"

"Dude, just shut up." Chris laughed.

"I was right." Paul put his hands up in the air.

"Don't let it get to your head." Randy stated throwing a pillow at Paul.

XoX

All three girls were pilled into the bathroom across the hall from Randy's bedroom. Trish and Stacy pushed Stephanie into the bathroom and locked the door behind them. The two girls crossed their arms and stared at Stephanie. They were waiting for answers, while Stephanie played innocent to the whole thing. They tapped their foots on the ground as they continued to wait for the answer.

"Well…" Stacy pushed the issue.

"What?" Stephanie blushed slightly.

"What the hell is that on your finger?" Trish stated taking Stephanie's hand.

"It's a ring." Stephanie said bluntly.

"What kind of ring?" Stacy interrogated her brunette friend.

"Just a promise ring." Stephanie smiled as she looked down at her hand.

"Paul gave you a promise ring?" Trish nearly choked out as she admired the ring.

"Yeah, he was so sweet about it." Stephanie beamed.

"You know what this means right?" Stacy stated looking up at Stephanie.

"What?" Stephanie smiled at Stacy.

"You're '_the one' _for him." Stacy replied with a small smile.

"That's pretty much what he said." Stephanie continued to blush.

"That's so sweet." Trish gushed at her friend's happiness.

"Well, I get to be the maid of honor." Stacy spoke up.

"No way!" Trish looked at Stacy like she was crazy. "I'm the maid of honor."

"GIRLS!!" Stephanie shouted. "I'm not getting married yet."

"Well, you have to start planning." They both said at the same time.

"Not yet." Stephanie looked down at her ring. "I don't want to scare him away."

"Ok, we'll keep it quiet for now." Stacy smiled as she hugged her friend.

"You're the luckiest girl right now Steph!" Trish spoke as she joined in the hug.

XoxoxoxoX

The girls then went back into the room and started to hang out with all the guys. Everyone hung out with one another having a good time. They were laughing, talking, smiling, cracking jokes, and enjoying their time together. Halfway through the night, they all exchanged gifts with one another and opened them. This was their own clear way of spending Christmas Eve together as a group.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please let me know what you all think and review please.

Citcat


	53. New Years Eve Party

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 53: New Years Eve Party

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

Six days had passed since Christmas Eve. On Christmas day, all the friends stayed home and inside to spend the entire day with their families. They all had opened presents and shared in laughs. Christmas breakfasts and dinners turned out great with help from everyone. Christmas day was a pretty lazy day. They all got what they wanted and were just happy all together. Now, Christmas was over and it had already become New Years Eve. Parties were being held all over and the gang had planned on attending the same party together. The party was being thrown at Torrie Wilson's house. Her parents were out of town and told her she could have a few friends over, but that didn't go as planned. Almost everyone found out about the party, and would be showing up later that night.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie came running down the stairs from her bedroom. She made her way into the living room and ran over to the window. Her head looked outside, searching for Paul. He was on his way over to pick her up, so they could go to the party. She was so enthralled into seeing if Paul had arrived yet, that she hadn't seen her parents sitting in the living room in their recliners. Vince cleared his throat grabbing the attention of his daughter. Stephanie slowly turned around with a smile on her face.

"What are you so excited about?" Vince questioned his daughter standing in front of him.

"Paul is supposed to be picking me up soon." Stephanie smiled as she held her hands behind her back.

"Where are you two going?" Linda asked. "I don't want you two on the roads tonight."

"Where just going to a friend's house." Stephanie partially lied.

"Who's house?" Vince wandered aloud his eyes focused on his newspaper.

"Torrie's." Stephanie spoke softly.

"Isn't that the girl that Paul dated before you?" Linda eyed her daughter.

"Yeah, but their friends now." Stephanie stated trying to convince her mother of their friendship.

"How do you know he wont try and get back with her?" Linda questioned again.

Stephanie paused for a moment as she felt the ring on her ring finger of her left hand. A smile instantly formed on her face. Vince had looked up once Stephanie paused. Linda and Vince both looked at their daughter's smile. The older couple then looked at one another. Stephanie couldn't help but think about the night when Paul gave her the ring. She knew he wouldn't get back together with Torrie. She still hadn't told her parents about the promise ring. She knew they'd have a million and one questions, seeing that she was still only in high school. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell them, she just wasn't ready to. She kept her hands behind her back as she began to speak again.

"He wouldn't hurt me like that." Stephanie replied a smile still on her face.

"He's hurt you before." Vince stated his eyed now fixating on his daughter.

"That's the past daddy." Stephanie spoke giving off an angelic look.

"Ok, well you two be careful." Vince responded turning his head to the newspaper again.

"Vince?" Linda was in shock. "I don't want her on the road that late at night."

"Linda, she'll be inside a house." Vince answered turning his attention to his wife.

"If she gets hurt, I'll never forgive you." Linda huffed a little.

"I've heard that line before." Vince smirked as he looked at Stephanie.

"Thanks daddy!" Stephanie smiled as she ran over to him.

Stephanie hugged Vince tightly giving him her thanks. Linda smiled at the interaction between the two. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she watched the two hug. Linda tilted her head to the side as she noticed the sparkling ring on Stephanie's finger. She knew it must have been new, because she had never seen that ring before in her life. Once Stephanie pulled away from Vince, she turned to Linda. She then proceeded to give her a hug. Linda gladly hugged her daughter back. Once Stephanie pulled away, and was about to leave, Linda stopped her.

"Stephanie?" Linda spoke up for Stephanie to here her.

"Yes mom?" Stephanie stated turning around.

"Is that a new ring?" Linda questioned. "I've never seen you wear it before."

Stephanie looked down at her hands realizing her mother had seen it. She didn't know whether to lie to them or to just tell them the truth. Stephanie's head looked back up at her mother who was staring at her. Her eyes then looked over at her father who was examining the ring from a distance. There was no way she could lie to them about it. Plus, she was 18, she was a grown woman in her opinion. She loved Paul, so what was the use in hiding it.

"Paul gave it to me." Stephanie smiled. "On Christmas Eve."

"Let me see it." Vince spoke motioning Stephanie over to him.

"What kind of ring is it?" Linda asked as Stephanie walked over to Vince.

"It looks like a promise ring." Vince said getting a better look at the ring.

"Is it a promise ring Stephanie?" Linda stated in question.

"Yes, it is." Stephanie said proudly. "We both love each other."

"You've got to be kidding me." Vince laughed sarcastically. "You two don't know the meaning of love."

"Yes we do." Stephanie replied snatching her arm away.

"You're only 18." Vince looked at his baby girl. "You're still in high school."

"So, that doesn't stop me from having feelings." Stephanie held her hand as she played with her ring.

"I wont allow it." Vince responded as he looked at Stephanie.

"It's not like we're getting married!" Stephanie yelled.

"I don't care, you're too young." Vince retorted as he looked down at his paper.

"I don't care what you say! I'm going to be with him anyway!" Stephanie shouted as she seen Paul's car pull up out the corner of her eye. "I hate you!"

With that said, Stephanie ran outside the door. She had already been ready and waiting so it was easy for her to just leave. Vince watched as Stephanie ran out the door. He watched her through the window get into Paul's car. After a moment, the car had backed out of the drive way and took off down the street. Linda turned and looked at Vince. She shook her head at him.

"What was that all about?" Linda asked her husband.

"She's too young to be promised to anyone." Vince mumbled.

"You really think so?" Linda folded her arms.

"Yeah, I do." Vince replied as he looked back at his paper again. "She'll get over it."

"You're daughter is happy Vince." Linda spoke. "Let her make her own mistakes."

"And let her get hurt again?" Vince returned his attention to his wife.

"I thought you liked Paul?" Linda became confused.

"I do." Vince answered. "Just not with my baby girl."

"Ah, I see where this is coming from." Linda smirked. "You think that she doesn't need you anymore."

"All she ever does is hang out with him." Vince muttered under his breath.

"Aw, don't forget you were like her at her age." Linda stated taking a hold of Vince's hand.

"How so?" Vince looked at his wife with knowing eyes.

"You promised yourself to me at 18." Linda smiled. "Now look at us."

"Happier then ever." Vince sighed. "But, she's my baby girl!"

"She'll always be your baby girl." Linda reassured Vince. "But she has to grow up sooner or later."

"I guess I'll talk to her about it." Vince smiled at his wife as they shared a sweet kiss.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy and Candice sat on Torrie's couch listening to the music playing. People had already showed up and were partying away. It was 10:30 at night and things were just getting started. Candice hadn't been as clingy towards Randy ever since Christmas Eve. She had been keeping her distance from him, yet at the same time still spending time with him. Randy was trying to figure out what was wrong, but she assured him that it was nothing. He had hoped that New Years would be a better time for them. They hadn't been as close as of late, and he was beginning to get a bit worried. It didn't help that he had already fallen for her. A smile came on his face as he thought about his feelings for her. He couldn't wait until Valentine's day to tell her. He almost contemplated on just telling her tonight. Randy wanted to give her a little bit more time, just in case her feelings weren't the same yet. From what he had collected, her feelings were the same, but he could never be too sure with girls. They always changed their minds.

"Any new year resolutions?" Randy smiled at Candice.

"I'm not sure." Candice looked at her drink in her hand. "I never keep them."

"That's the fun part." Randy chuckled. "Breaking them that is."

"Well, I guess…" Candice thought for a moment. "To make it through the new year."

"What kind of resolution is that?" Randy questioned as Candice looked up at him.

"I just have this feeling that it's going to be a hard year." Candice sighed as she looked at him.

"Well, I'm here for you." Randy spoke kissing her forehead.

"You wont be for much longer." Candice mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" Randy asked not quite hearing what she said over the loud music.

"Oh, I said what are your resolutions?" Candice lied as she swirled her contents in her cup.

"To be the best boyfriend I can be to you." Randy smirked thinking he'd get brownie points.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Candice spoke quickly getting up an heading to the rest room.

Randy sat there as she ran off to the bathroom. He was confused at her actions. The look on her face when she left was a sad look. He wondered what was going on with her. He thought things were going great, but he figured he was wrong. Randy scratched the back of his neck as he looked to his left. He seen Paul walking over to him. He nodded at Paul as Paul sat down on the couch next to Randy.

"Hey, what's up?" Paul questioned Randy.

"I'm fine." Randy answered. "You?"

"I've been better." Paul sighed using his index fingers to make circular motions on his temple.

"What's going on?" Randy asked his friend.

"Steph and I got into an argument." Paul shut his eyes trying to drown out the music.

"About what?" Randy looked around the room, noticing Stephanie had disappeared in the same area as Candice.

"Vince doesn't want us promised to each other." Paul looked over at Randy. "She was all upset about it when she got into the car."

"How did that start an argument between you two?" Randy said trying to figure some things out.

"I told her that if her father wasn't approving it, that maybe we should cool it." Paul smacked his own forehead. "I'm such an idiot."

"No you aren't." Randy laughed at his friend's actions. "You just want to make her happy and you don't want her to upset her father."

"I guess so." Paul breathed as he looked around the room. "Where's your little lady?"

"She went to the bathroom a few seconds ago." Randy replied looking around the room as well.

"Any issues with her?" Paul asked. "I can't be the only one with relationship problems."

"I'm not sure." Randy said honestly. "She's been acting funny."

"Is she breaking up with you?" Paul questioned the man sitting next to him.

"I don't think so." Randy wondered. "Everything has been going good. We've been hanging out and all."

"Maybe it's that time of the month." Paul suggested.

"Maybe." Randy thought about it. "That would explain a lot."

"See, you're getting all worked up over nothing." Paul let out a small laugh.

"I guess you're right." Randy spoke taking a drink from his cup that he had been holding.

"This party isn't that bad." Paul said bobbing his head to the music.

"Yeah, shockingly." Randy answered as he looked up at Stephanie from a distance.

She looked as if she was on her way over towards them. Randy's question was confirmed when Stephanie was only a few feet away from them. He looked over at Paul who was looking at Stephanie. Randy shook his head at the two of them. They could never stay angry with one another for longer then an hour. Randy rolled his eyes, as he got up off the couch, allowing them to have some privacy. He walked over towards the bathroom, and waited until Candice came out. He watched as Stephanie sat down on Paul's lap.

"I'm sorry." Stephanie frowned looking down at her hands.

"No, I'm sorry." Paul replied lifting her chin to look at him. "I just want you to be happy, that's all."

"I'm happy with you." Stephanie stuck out her bottom lip.

"I'm happy with you too." Paul smiled leaning his forehead against her's. "We don't have to cool anything if you don't want to."

"Ok." Stephanie smiled softly.

"Maybe your dad will come around later." Paul spoke with hope in his voice.

"Hopefully." Stephanie answered as she leaned in to kiss him.

Randy shook his head as he watched his two friends. He was happy for them. They both deserved one another. Randy looked towards the bathroom door as it opened. Candice walked out and almost fell backwards seeing Randy standing right in front of her.

"Stalking me are we?" Candice laughed in question, her attitude obviously had changed.

"Maybe." Randy smiled putting his arm around her shoulder. "I just didn't want to lose you."

"I would have come back to the couch." Candice spoke as she looked over at the couch. "Oh, that's why."

"Yeah." Randy laughed as they walked outside and to the back yard were more people were mingling.

"It's such a beautiful night out tonight." Candice smiled as she turned to look at Randy.

"Not as beautiful as you." Randy answered.

"You're too cute." Candice blushed as she leaned up and kissed him.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish, Stacy and Chris all walked into the party together. They were the single trio and decided to come to the party together. Chris didn't want to go at first, due to his drinking. He was still trying to stay away from it, and it was hard. He had grown to like drinking and he was very fond of it. He was scared that if he did have a drink, he'd screw up and lose his friends again. He decided to try and stay strong through out the party. All three looked around the house to get a good feel of their surroundings. They all rolled their eyes at the scene of Paul and Stephanie on the couch. They simply overlooked them and looked around again. People were dancing, drinking, laughing and talking. Stacy herself searched around for Candice and Randy. She knew they'd be here and she was curious to how that was going. She had also taken notice of Candice's odd behavior as of late. Stacy was scared for the two of them that things may not work out. She wanted to make sure they were ok. Her eyes continued to scan the room as she saw them walking back into the house from outside. They looked to be ok, and Stacy breathed a sigh of relief. Trish bobbed her head to the music as she looked around the room as well. It was nice to be out of the house and at a party. She looked up at Chris who looked worried and calm at the same time. She figured that he was more worried about the fact of drinking again. Trish didn't say anything about it and let it go. As for the last couple of days, she had noticed that they had become rather close and very quickly. It was unplanned and she hardly ever noticed until they were inches from kissing. Trish shrugged her shoulders as the three of them walked into the kitchen where snacks and drinks were on the counter.

"This party is actually pretty good." Stacy swayed back and forth slightly.

"Yeah, it is." Trish agreed as she popped a pretzel into her mouth.

"A party is a party." Chris replied having his fair share of parties.

"Only for you Mr. Partier." Stacy smirked at Chris.

"Don't remind me." Chris sighed as he sat down on one of the stools.

"Sorry…" Stacy trailed off.

"It's ok." Chris gave Stacy a soft smile. "I just don't want to think about the past."

"Well, it's a new year." Trish perked up. "Everyone can have a fresh start."

"Resolutions?" Stacy questioned looking at her friends.

"I want to lose about ten pounds." Trish replied looking at her flat stomach.

"Trish, are you insane?" Stacy looked at her blonde friend like she was crazy.

"You don't need to lose any weight." Chris spoke taking a drink of the soda he had picked up. "You're prefect."

"Uh…" Trish slightly blushed at Chris' words as she tried her best to ignore them. "I guess."

"You have to pick a new one." Stacy smirked at her friend. She had picked up on Trish's blush. "I'm sure there is another one."

"Well, let me think about it Stace!" Trish eyed her friend knowing what she was getting at. "What's yours?"

"Mine is to continue to put others before me." Stacy smiled satisfied with her answer.

"Is that why you aren't moving in on Randy?" Chris shut his mouth as quickly as he had opened it.

"How did…" Stacy looked at Chris and then to Trish. "You told him?"

"NO!" Trish looked at Chris. "How do you know?"

"It's obvious and no one told me." Chris answered. "I could tell at Christmas Eve."

"This conversation never leaves the three of us." Stacy looked at Chris.

"I wasn't going to tell him." Chris looked at Stacy in return. "It's not my place."

"Well, thanks." Stacy spoke biting her bottom lip.

"My resolution is to get back on track with my life." Chris replied changing topics. "Get back the life I once had."

"Really?" Stacy couldn't help the smirk that came on her face again as she looked at Trish.

"Yes really." Chris responded. "Things were so much better back then."

"Wonder why?" Stacy mumbled on for Trish t hear.

"Shut it Stace." Trish mumbled back.

"If you two are going to mumble about me can you take it some where else please." Chris stated looking at the two girls.

"Sorry." Trish and Stacy said together.

"Things are coming together for you now aren't they?" Trish questioned Chris.

"Yeah they are." Chris nodded. "But there is still a thing or two I'd like back."

"Like what?" Stacy prodded the topic further.

"Just things that I don't want to talk about right now." Chris answered as he took another drink.

"Trish?" Stacy tilted her head with a smirk. "Your new resolution?"

"I'm going to put the past behind me." Trish stated looking at Stacy, but looking at Chris from the corner of her eye.

"What kind of stuff in the past?" Stacy giggled, she loved winding up her friends.

"Just stuff ok." Trish widen her eyes at her leggy friend.

"If you say so." Stacy laughed as they all began to talk about a different topic.

XoxoxoxoX

The couple of hours had passed by quickly. It was now 11:59 p.m. and the last 30 seconds of the year. The count down had begun as people moved about the room, looking for someone to kiss. Randy and Candice were sitting on the couch holding hands as they counted down together. Paul and Stephanie were sitting together on the stairs staring at one another as they continued to count. Stacy, Chris and Trish stood outside counting down as well. Everyone was smiling at one another as it got closer and closer.

10

9

8

Randy turned and looked at Candice who was looking back up at him. Smiles on both of their faces. Stephanie had scooted closer to Paul as he wrapped an arm around her rubbing her shoulder as they continued to stare at one another. Trish and Stacy smiled at one another, as they mentally shared an idea. Chris looked down at the girls as they had the looks of an idea on their faces.

7

6

5

It was getting closer and closer for the year to be complete and the rise of a new year. Candice leaned in closer to Randy as the seconds were still counting down, and she put her free hand on Randy's knee. Randy gave Candice's hand a gentle squeeze and a smile along with it. Stephanie looked into Paul's eyes, as he leaned his forehead on her forehead. Their noses grazed one another as their smiles grew bigger. Chris watched Stacy and Trish as they continued to count with smirks on their faces. He wondered what the two were up to. Trish looked up at Chris and just smiled at him. Stacy followed suit with the same smile on her face.

4

3

2

Candice could feel her cheeks turning a light shade of pink as she continued to look at Randy. This would be her first year kissing someone on new years. The feelings was very overwhelming that she had to stop herself from kissing him too soon. Randy took his hand and gently pushed a strand of hair out of Candice's face as he stared into her eyes. Paul and Stephanie were already almost making out, but with their little Eskimo kisses. Their lips were inches apart as they counted down together. Trish and Stacy both took a hold of Chris' hands and held them in theirs. They both looked up and smiled at Chris. He smiled back at them, wondering what they were about to do. He knew he wouldn't be kissing anyone, but he could only wonder what might happen in the next second.

1

Randy and Candice both leaned in together at the same time and kissed one another sweetly and gently. They pulled apart and smiles were plastered on their faces. It was a brand new year. Paul and Stephanie kissed deeply and passionately, which turned into a short make out session. They slowly pulled apart for some air with huge smiles on their faces as they looked at one another and held each other's hands. Chris looked down at the two blondes standing next to him. Trish and Stacy smirked as the leaned up and they both kissed Chris on his cheeks at the same exact time. Chris nodded his head as a huge grin came on his face. He liked their idea, even though he didn't get to kiss Trish, he would survive with that. None of the six or seven friends, even thought twice, about this being their very last new year together. They only had one more semester go and then they were out of high school, and off to college. None of them knew at that moment, that they wouldn't be seeing each other as much as they'd like to in the future. Without a second thought, they all shouted together with cheers and happiness.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" Everyone including all seven friends shouted at the same time.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please, let me know what you think and how I'm doing. Thanks again to all my wonderful reviewers. You guys put a smile on my face and make me want to continue to write.

Citcat


	54. Valentines Day Part 1

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 54: Valentines Day Part 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

The songs are "Amazed" by Lonestar. "Sorry" by Buckcherry. "Falling to Pieces" by Avril Lavigne.

XoxoxoxoX

The month of January had flown by rather quickly considering it was the last half of their senior year. Nothing much happened in the month of January. Everyone hung out, went to class, worked at their jobs and such. Paul and Stephanie were closer then ever, with her father's approval. Randy and Candice seemed to be doing ok, but Candice had become a bit distant as the days progressed. Stacy was happy for the first time in a while, though she was still very much in love with Randy. She didn't let that get to her or bring her down. Chris and Trish had become closer as time went by. The attraction was still there between the two, and anyone could point it out, with the exception of them. Chris had also been able to mend his friendships a bit more, to the point where it wasn't as awkward anymore. January was a month of nothing pretty much. Just the same day to day things.

The month of February approached quickly. So quickly that it was February 14th. The day had fallen on a Saturday. This day was better known as Valentines Day. The favorite holiday to most girls all over Greenwich High, or better the world. That is if, they had a significant partner to share the day with. Most of the guys didn't really care much for the holiday, but they knew it made their girlfriends happy. Everything was bound to be packed full of couples and the waits for everything would be long, and close to an hour. Many guys had made plans far in advance luckily.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie smiled into her full length mirror as she smoothed out her dress. It was nothing fancy, just a short casual dress. It was black that went down to her mid thigh. It had very short sleeves that draped over her shoulders. The dress clung to her bringing out every curve perfectly. There was no decoration on the dress at all. It was a v-cut to show off some cleavage, but not everything. The dress was suitable to go out to a restaurant in. She wore skin colors tights with her black high heeled sandals. After examining her body, she looked up at her face. Her smile became bigger as she looked at her hair. It was loosely down and had a natural curl to it. Her make up was done in a soft smoky tone. She thought she looked perfect. Stephanie walked over to her dresser, and pulled out a silver necklace. She moved her hair out the way to put the necklace on, but was having difficulty. A sigh escaped her lips as she heard a knock on the door. Her lips turned into a small pout not being able to put the necklace on.

"Come in." Stephanie sighed as she continued on with the necklace.

"Hey Princess." Vince smiled as he entered her room.

"Hi daddy." Stephanie smiled turning to her father.

"Wow, you look beautiful." Vince stated taking a look at his daughter.

"Thanks, you really think so?" Stephanie blushed looking at herself in the mirror again.

"I don't think, I know so." Vince walked over to his daughter. "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought this was prom night."

"Nope, but it's getting closer." Stephanie smirked still struggling with her necklace.

"Let me help you." Vince replied taking the necklace.

Stephanie gladly accepted her father's help. She moved her hair to the side of her neck and held it in place. Vince then took the necklace and placed it around her neck. As he pulled the two ends closer to one another, he collapsed them together. Feeling his hands away from her neck, she adjusted the jewelry that was on her necklace so that it was lined up straight. She then fixed her hair. Vince couldn't help but smile at his daughter. She was growing up way to fast, and he hated it. Stephanie noticed the look on her father's face through the mirror.

"Are you ok daddy?" Stephanie asked turning to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Vince snapped out of his thoughts. "You might want to hurry up though."

"Why?" Stephanie asked making some minor last minute touch ups.

"Paul's downstairs waiting." Vince chuckled at his daughter's reaction.

"Dad, why didn't you tell me?" Stephanie hurried and grabbed her purse.

"He told me not to rush you." Vince shook his head as he exited the room.

Stephanie hurriedly followed her father down the stairs. When she saw Paul standing at the bottom of the stairs her heart nearly melted. He stood their, were black slacks with a pastel blue button up dress shirt. He wore a black jacket over his shoulders. He stood their with a smile on his face and a dozen roses. She met him at the foot of the stairs and he handed her the flowers. Vince and Linda stood side by side as they watched the two interact. Smiles formed on both of their faces when Stephanie took the flowers and hugged Paul in return. After a few words were spoken between the four, Linda took the roses to put in water and the young couple left. Vince watched out the window as Paul helped Stephanie into the car, and they headed off. They drove for about twenty minutes until the arrived at the restaurant. It wasn't anything too fancy, just a casual place to eat, with karaoke as well. They both had agreed on the place together, because they both wanted to try it. Paul had made reservations earlier the month and when they walked inside, they were seated quickly. The glanced over their menus and ordered when the waiter came around a second time with their drinks. After the waiter left, Paul took a hold of Stephanie's hands and smiled at her.

"You look absolutely amazing tonight." Paul spoke starting the conversation.

"Thanks." Stephanie blushed. "You don't look to bad yourself."

"I try." Paul laughed as he looked at the stage where someone had just gotten off stage.

"I wonder who's going to sing next?" Stephanie questioned aloud looking around the room.

"I don't know." Paul replied looking at his watch. "I'm going to use the restroom."

"Ok." Stephanie smiled at him as he kissed her before he left.

Stephanie tapped her foot to the soft music playing as there were no singers yet. She looked around the small, and not so crowded room. Not very many couples came to a karaoke restaurant for a valentines day date. She was fine with it, and she was actually liking it. The employees were very nice and friendly and the food looked great. She looked around at her surroundings just taking everything in. Her eyes scanned across the stage, as she noticed one of the employees up on stage. He spoke a few words and introduced the next singer. Stephanie's eyes nearly popped out of her head, as she saw Paul walk up on stage. She knew he was one for making dramatic scenes in front of crowds. She thought back to when he apologized on top of the coffee cart. Her heart raced as she watched him grab the microphone.

"How's everyone doing tonight?" Paul spoke over the microphone as he smiled in Stephanie's direction.

The crowd all gave their acceptance as they all shouted good and fine. Paul nodded as he looked at the guy behind him controlling the music. He turned back around and smiled. His eyes found Stephanie again as he began to speak.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this song that I'm going to sing, is dedicated to my beautiful girlfriend Stephanie. She's sitting over there in the booth." Paul smirked as he pointed in her direction.

The crowd turned and looked at Stephanie and "aw-d". Her cheeks turned a rosy shade of pink as she looked up at him. He smirked satisfied with her reaction. The soft mellow beat began to fill the room. Paul began to sway to the music as it played. He waited patiently until the words came up on the screen.

_Every time our eyes meet  
This feeling inside me  
Is almost more than I can take _

_Baby when you touch me  
I can feel how much you love me  
And it just blows me away  
I've never been this close to anyone or anything  
I can hear your thoughts  
I can see your dreams_

Stephanie blushed as Paul sand directly to her. He wasn't the best singer, but she gave him credit for getting up in front of everyone. She felt like she was the only one in the room as he belted out each word. Her heart melted as he winked at her and a smile went along with it. No guy had ever done anything this special for her. She truly felt like a queen when ever she was with him. Paul was her king.

_I don't know how you do what you do  
I'm so in love with you  
It just keeps getting better  
I wanna spend the rest of my life  
With you by my side  
Forever and ever  
Every little thing that you do  
Baby I'm amazed by you _

Paul smiled at Stephanie as he continued to sing to her. The lyrics went perfectly with how he felt about her. The words were exactly how he felt about her as well. Just seeing her bright smile made his day and seeing her smiling up at him made him want to sing more. He knew he couldn't sing that well, but he knew it would be special to her. During the small pause, he blew a small kiss her way. She pretended to catch it with her hand. She then placed her hand to her lips. Paul sighed happily as he continued with the song.

_The smell of your skin  
The taste of your kiss  
The way you whisper in the dark  
Your hair all around me  
Baby you surround me  
You touch every place in my heart  
Oh it feels like the first time every time  
I wanna spend the whole night in your eyes_

Paul sweetly finished up the rest of the song. Once the song was over everyone clapped for him and he bowed. He then walked off stage and made his way back to the table. He could still see the blush on her cheeks as she smiled up at him. Paul still had his same smile as he sat down at the table across from her. Once he was seated, Stephanie leaned across the table, with Paul meeting her half way. They shared a small and soft kiss. Only a moment later, their food arrived. The rest of the night, they spent eating dinner and making small talk. They mostly enjoyed each other's company. After dinner, the two drove to the park and took a walk. Towards the end of their walk, the two embraced and shared a passionate kiss. Stephanie called her parents and told them they were going to go see a late movie, and they said it was ok. Closing her phone, with her devilish smirk, Paul couldn't help but laugh. In reality, the two never planned on going to a movie. His parents had left for the weekend, and Kendal was spending the night at her grandparents house. Lynn was with her boyfriend, leaving the Levesque house empty. In a few moments, the house would be occupied by none other then the love birds.

XoxoxoxoX

Trish knocked on the front door wondering if this was a good idea. She already knew that Randy, Candice, Paul, and Stephanie already had plans seeing that it was Valentines Day. She had called Stacy up on the phone, but Stacy had plans already. Trish felt left out today more then ever. Her parents were out on a date and her brother even had a little girlfriend. This left Trish alone, and gave her only one other option. She wasn't sure if hanging out with him on Valentine's day would give off the wrong impression or if it would be moving too fast. Before she had a chance to turn around, Mrs. Jericho answered the door.

"Hello Trish." She spoke. "It's been a while since I've seen you over here."

"Yeah, it has been a while." Trish smiled sweetly. "Is Chris around?"

"Sure is, he's upstairs in his room." Mrs. Jericho spoke. "Go right on up."

"Thanks." Trish replied with a smile as she headed for the stairs.

"Trish…" She called out.

"Yeah?" Trish turned when her name was called.

"It's nice to see you back in his life." She stated. "You're the only one he ever talks about."

"It's nice being back." Trish answered as she turned to head up the stairs.

She knew exactly what his mom meant. Chris had pretty much spilled his heart out to her a few months back. There was no doubt that he still had strong feelings for her, more so, he was still in love with her. She couldn't lie, she was still in love with him too. She was just scared of putting her guard down, and letting herself get hurt again. She also knew it was her fault she lost him in the first place. Trish was scared, that she may hurt him again if they would get back together. She thought about the past few months. It really felt like they were friends again, and they both felt closer then ever. She knew there was an attraction still there between them. It was more of a physical and sexual connection. They both couldn't ignore that. As much as they tried to shake it off, it was noticeable to all of their friends. Trish shook her head as she walked up to his bedroom door. She heard the sound of a guitar. With her head tilted to the side, she quietly opened the door. She saw Chris sitting on his bed facing the window. His back was to Trish and he was oblivious to the fact that she had entered the room. Trish quietly shut the door behind her as he began to sing with the music he had just put together.

_Oh I had a lot to say was thinking on my time away  
I missed you and things weren't the same_

_Cause everything inside it never comes out right  
And when I see you cry it makes me want to die_

Trish covered her mouth as he sang along with the lyrics. She had never heard the song before, so she was assuming that he wrote it. The words were so touching and meaningful. It sounded almost as if he was singing to her. Her heart nearly jumped out to him as he paused. He took the pencil that was behind his ear and wrote something down on the notepad on his bed. He nodded his head as if saying the lines in his head. He was in the zone, because he hadn't seen Trish standing there. Chris then started back up again, but at a different section.

_I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry you're blue, I'm sorry about all the things I said to you  
And I know I can't take it back  
I love how you kiss, I love all your sounds, and baby the way you make my world go round  
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry:_

Chris paused again as he took down some notes. Trish had a small feeling that that was the chorus to his song. The words were perfect for everything that had happened between them. She wanted to say something, but at the same time wanted for him to continue. The way he was singing it and the words he was saying, was as if this was his built up feelings for what he had done. Trish bit the tips of her fingers as he continued on with his song.

_This time I think I'm to blame it's harder to get through the days  
You get older and blame turns to shame_

_Every single day I think about how we came all this way  
The sleepless nights and the tears you cried it's never too late to make it right  
Oh yeah sorry!_

Trish nearly almost started to cry, but she held against it. She sighed taking a deep breath as Chris continued to writing things down on his notepad. He still hadn't noticed her, so she thought she'd make her presence known. She slowly walked over to the side of the bed that he was sitting on. Chris slowly looked up as he saw her feet below him. His eyes met hers and he gave her a small smile as she smiled in return.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Chris asked as he picked up his notepad so it was out of her view.

"I just stopped by." Trish smiled. "See if you were busy or not."

"Nope, not busy at all." Chris spoke as he set his guitar down. "When did you get here?"

"Long enough to here your lyrics." Trish motioned towards the notepad. "They're really good."

"You heard them?" Chris sighed as if he didn't want her to hear them.

"Yeah, I did." Trish frowned. "Is that a problem?"

"Yes, no, I don't know." Chris ran a hand through his hair.

"Why?" Trish asked as she looked at him.

"They're just kind of personal." Chris looked around the room.

"About me?" Trish questioned feeling she was on the right track.

"How'd you…" Chris trailed off realizing he pretty much told her.

"The lyrics pretty much speak for themselves." Trish smiled softly. "Did you write them yourself?"

"Yeah, I did." Chris returned her smile.

"I didn't know you could sing or play guitar." Trish spoke in approval.

"It's just something I learned." Chris shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not that great."

"You're really good." Trish replied her hand subconsciously falling on top of his.

"The lyrics were better." Chris answered unaware of their hands. "Since they're from the heart."

"You know, I've heard you say sorry so many times before." Trish began. "But when I heard you singing them, they just felt so much more powerful."

"You think?" Chris questioned as the two were starting to lean in to one another.

"Yeah…" Trish slowly trailed off.

Chris and Trish both slowly leaned in to each other. Their eyes were locked on one another. Jericho had turned his hand over so that their hands were touching palm to palm. Without thinking they both entwined their fingers with one another. Their eyes shut ever so slowly as they became inches apart from kissing. Both their hearts raced as they anticipated the kiss that was about to take place. Neither Trish nor Chris knew what was happening. The moment was there and they were going in for the kiss subconsciously. They were mere centimeters away from their lips touching, when Chris' bedroom door swung open. Chris and Trish both pulled away coming back to reality as they both looked at the door. Noelle stood there with a smirk on her face.

"What do you want?" Chris questioned his 13 year old sister.

"Mom wants to know what kind of pizza you want." Noelle stated. "And wants to know if Trish is staying and what kind she would like."

"I'll just have pepperoni." Chris replied to his sister.

Chris turned to look at Trish who was still collecting herself. Noelle's eyes fell upon Trish as well. The two watched as Trish looked at them both. She bit her bottom lips as she contemplated what she wanted to do. After a few minutes or so, she smiled up at Noelle.

"Pepperoni sounds great to me." Trish smiled giving her answer.

"Ok, and Mom and Dad are leaving after she orders the pizza." Noelle mentioned. "She's leaving the money on the table by the door."

"Talk about ruining a moment." Chris mumbled under his breath as his sister left.

"Huh?" Trish looked at Chris with wandering eyes.

"Oh nothing." Chris smiled. "Just thinking of other lyrics out loud."

"Do I inspire you?" Trish smirked, knowing full well that's not what he had said.

"Yeah, you do." Chris answered telling the truth.

"Maybe this will inspire you more." Trish replied as she took the notepad from him.

After taking the notepad from Chris, she leaned in towards him to place it on his night stand. She was really close to him in Chris' opinion. His heart raced as she started to lean back to a straight forward position. He watched as she slowly came backwards to regain her composure. She stopped mid way, as she looked up at Chris with a smile. If Chris could let his guard down and confess everything to her, so could she. Putting everything behind her, Trish slowly leaned in and kissed Chris on the lips. A bit taken back at first, Chris wasn't even sure if this was happening. His eyes were still open as she kissed him with her eyes shut. When he realized that she was actually kissing him he kissed her back. The kiss felt overpowering and it felt like they were making up for missed time. They both knew that the attraction was there and they couldn't ignore it anymore. Needing air, they both ended the kiss unwillingly and both were in shock but smiles clear on their face.

"Wow." They both said at the same time.

"Sorry." Trish blushed looking down at her hands. "I couldn't help myself."

"Hey…" Chris took his hand and made her look at him. "I'm glad you did."

"Really?" Trish played dumb as if she didn't already know that he wanted her.

"Yeah." Chris smiled at her. "But where does this leave us now?"

"I don't know." Trish sighed having not thought that part out fully. "We could try us again maybe?"

"Is that what you want?" Chris questioned, and judging by the kiss he was sure he knew her answer.

"Yeah, I do." Trish blushed again as he took her hand.

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that." Chris smiled at her. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." Trish smiled back at him.

"I'm not going to screw up this time." Chris spoke from his heart. "I'm going to talk to you and when something is bothering me I'm going to let you know. I'm not goi…"

Trish cut Chris off with her lips. She didn't want to hear him go on and on about what he was going to do right this time. She already knew that things would be different this time and they would be for the better. They both knew better and have grown up since they first started dating. Though time had passed, it felt like they were never apart to begin with. All she wanted to do, and judging by his body language and his urge to deepen the kiss, he knew he wanted to do the same thing. They both wanted to make up for lost time, but they weren't going to take it as far as their friends Paul and Stephanie.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I didn't want to make this chapter any longer then it already was. In the next chapter, it will be part 2 and focused on Stacy, Randy and Candice. I hope you all liked this chapter and let me know what you think please. Thanks.

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers. You keep me motivated.

Citcat


	55. Valentines Day Part 2

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 54: Valentines Day Part 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

The song is "Please Remember Me" by Tim McGraw

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy stretched as she stood up from her sofa. Her parents had gone out on a weekend date, so they'd be gone until Monday. Mrs. Michelle was out of the state for the weekend as well. Stacy asked Candice about it, and was told she was on a business trip. She knew that Candice would want to spend time with Randy on this special day, so she volunteered to get out of the house. It just so happened that Andrew asked Stacy to hang out today. Just as friends though, nothing more. Stacy happily agreed, knowing it would take her mind off of things. She slowly made her way up the stairs. She wanted to change before she left to go meet Andrew at the theater. As she pushed open the door, a look of confusion was written on her face. Stacy looked around, eyeing the two suitcases and one duffle bag on the bed. They all were half packed full of clothes and other times. Stacy furrowed her eyebrows as she looked over at Candice pulling more clothes out of the closet from her side. Stacy was pretty much speechless, but managed to find some words to say.

"Candice, what's going on?" Stacy looked at her friend as she walked into her room.

Candice became startled and dropped the items in her hands. She turned to come face to face with Stacy. Candice had thought that Stacy left earlier, so she had begun packing. She was hoping that she could make a clean leave and just leave a note. She knew it wouldn't be that easy anymore. A sigh escaped her lips as she walked over to Stacy and she sat down next to her. This was killing her more then ever. Stacy had been so amazing to her, that she felt bad for not telling her. If telling Stacy was bad, she couldn't imagine telling Randy.

"My mom got a job." Candice spoke softly avoiding the obvious.

"Ok, that's great." Stacy nodded. "But what's with all the packing?"

"It's in California." Candice mumbled out in a whisper.

"No way!?" Stacy was shocked. "So you have to move down there?"

"Yeah…" Candice sighed. "That's what my mom had to talk to me about."

"On Christmas Eve?" Stacy questioned. "I can't believe this."

"I know." Candice responded rubbing her arm.

"When do you two leave?" Stacy asked again.

"My mom left already." Candice looked down. "She wanted to give me a little more time."

"So when you said she was on a business trip." Stacy began. "You meant more like just staying over there?"

"Yeah…" Candice replied to her question. "I feel horrible about it."

"Does Randy know?" Stacy asked the one question that Candice was avoiding the most.

"No, he doesn't." Candice couldn't look at her friend.

"He's going to be crushed." Stacy spoke. "He's really fallen for you."

"I know, and I've fallen for him." Candice started to tear up. "But this is for the best, and a long distance relationship never works."

"You don't know that unless you try." Stacy retorted as she looked at Candice.

"I can't do that to him." Candice frowned looking up at Stacy. "I care about him too much, to make him sit around and wait."

"You're too sweet." Stacy hugged Candice trying to reassure her that things would be ok.

"I want you to get back together with him." Candice said softly as she choked out the words.

Stacy pulled away from Candice and looked at her. Had she just heard what she thought she did? She looked at Candice, searching her eyes. She was waiting for her to come out and say she was joking. In Stacy's opinion, you never date your friend's ex. Though this situation was a bit twisted. Stacy and Candice had become friends after Candice and Randy began dating, without Candice knowing that Stacy and Randy had dated before. Yes, Stacy would love to get back together with Randy, but she didn't know if she could. Given everything that's happened, and how she was trying to move on from him, she couldn't see herself going through with Candice's wish.

"I couldn't do that to you Candice." Stacy stated shaking her head.

"I'm breaking up with him." Candice bit her bottom lip. "It's only fair to you and every other girl."

"You don't understand…" Stacy trailed off.

"Stacy, I know you love him." Candice reveled the truth she knew. "I respect and appreciate you for not acting on it, and allowing Randy and I to be happy for the time."

"How did you…" Stacy was stunned to find out that Candice had known all along.

"I see the way you look at him." Candice softly smiled. "I've watched the way you've acted around him. You're holding back from him because you don't want to hurt Randy or I. It's there in your eyes and I can see it. Don't forget, I'm a girl too."

"Andrew told you didn't he?" Stacy looked at Candice who had a small smirk.

"I was worried about you." Candice sighed. "So I asked, and he told me."

"I knew it." Stacy shook her head. "I'll kill him."

"He's only looking out for the best of you." Candice smiled.

"Yeah, I guess." Stacy rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Like I'm trying to look out for Randy." Candice spoke. "I know he loves you deep down."

"Candice I.." Stacy was at a lost of words.

"Do it for me, please." Candice begged with her eyes. "I know you wont be able to get back together with him right away since he'll need his space. I know he'd be happy with you. It would give him back the feeling of being wanted."

"I understand where you are coming from." Stacy responded. "I'll just say this, if it happens, it happens. I'm not going to try and get back with him intentionally. I know he really cares for you, hell probably stronger feelings for you then he ever had for me. So I'll let him make that choice."

"That's all I'm asking." Candice semi smiled as she stood up to start packing again.

"When is your flight?" Stacy questioned standing up as well.

"11:30 tonight." Candice sighed. "My mom arranged a paid for cab to pick me up."

Stacy nodded as she stood up. She looked over at the clock and noticed she still had some time before she had to meet Andrew. A small, sad smile came across her face as she started to help Candice pack her things. Candice gave Stacy the same smile in return. The two girls packed quietly as the radio played in the background. After a couple of songs passing by, Stacy couldn't help but start talking again.

"I can't believe you're actually leaving." Stacy spoke her voice cracking.

"Me either." Candice frowned. "I feel like I've just been accepted into your little group and now I have to leave."

"You'll always be apart of us." Stacy said as a tear fell. "We'll never forget you."

"Same here." Candice cried as she hugged her friend. "You're my best friend."

The two girls shared their embrace together. Stacy felt such a strong connection to Candice and was sad to see her leave. A small smile came to her face as Candice told Stacy she was her best friend. Stacy felt a strong attachment to Candice as well, and she felt the same. Candice had become one of her best friends too. A short while after the two girls pulled apart and smiled at one another. Stacy then turned her back and walked over to her desk. She opened the bottom drawer and moved some things around. She pulled out a small scrapbook. A sad smile still plastered on her face as she turned to Candice. She slowly walked over to her and handed her the book.

"The gang and I were putting it together." Stacy wiped away some of her tears. "It was supposed to be a graduation present. Obviously, that's the only picture that's missing."

"What is…" Candice was cut off.

"You'll see when you look at it." Stacy looked down at her hands. "I need to get going though, have a safe flight."

"I will." Candice spoke setting the book down. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too!" Stacy replied hugging her one last time.

With that said, Stacy exited the room. After going through that with Candice, Stacy didn't feel like changing anymore. Candice let a few more tears slip as she watched Stacy leave. She shut her eyes and looked back over to the bed. Her eyes catching sight of the book. She slowly opened it while sitting down on the bed. Her eyes scanned the pages as she continued to flip through each page. There were pictures of everyone in the book. There were pictures of her and Stephanie, her and Paul, her and Trish, more recently of her and Chris and of course her and Stacy. She came to one of her and Randy and she got teary eyed again. This had to be the hardest thing that she's ever had to do. She continued to flip the page seeing different pictures with different arrangement of people in each picture. As she got to the last page, it was a picture of all seven of them. They had truly accepted her into their own little bond and now she was leaving. Candice shut the book and tried to wipe away her tears. She needed to finish packing so when the time came, it would be easier on her.

XoxoxoxoX

A few hours passed by slowly. It was around 8 pm and Randy walked up to the Keibler's front door. He fixed his shirt as he knocked on the door. He looked down at the roses in his hand and a smile formed on his face. This was it, he was going to tell her how he felt. There was no doubt about it, he was in love with Candice. He had practiced at least a thousand times in the mirror making sure he said it perfectly. He tapped his foot as he waited outside. He looked around noticing that all the cars were gone. He was assuming that she wanted to stay in judging by the outside. Randy smelt the roses as he heard the door unlock. His smile grew as Candice opened the door.

"Happy Valentine's Day." Randy smiled walking in and giving her the roses along with a kiss.

Candice swallowed hard as she took the roses. This was going to be ten times harder for her then it was it Stacy. During her short period of time being here, she had fallen desperately hard for Randy. She took a deep breath as she shut the door behind her. Candice looked up at Randy as he smiled down at her. She had finished packing and all she had to do was wait. She had made a small dinner knowing that he'd be coming over soon. She wanted to make the best of it before she spilled everything to him.

"What smells so good?" Randy questioned as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I made us some dinner." Candice faked a small smile.

"You didn't tell me you could cook." Randy replied as he kissed her forehead.

"Yeah, it's just a little something I whipped up." Candice spoke trying to focus her eyes on anything else in the room.

"Well, I bet it's going to taste great." Randy answered taking her hand. "Why don't we go eat before it gets cold."

"Right." Candice nodded taking notice of Randy.

He was acting different tonight. She was a bit curious as to why. Randy was being really clingy and loving towards her more then usual. As they walked into the kitchen, to where the set table with the food on it was already set. Candice was about to pull out her chair, when Randy stopped her. He smiled and pulled it out for her. She gave him a smile as she sat down at the table. That's when it hit her. He was going to tell her those three little words that every girl wishes to hear. Candice's heart began to race thinking of him actually saying those words. It would make it that much more harder for her to leave. Taking a deep breath, she knew she couldn't let him get the chance to say them.

"Wow, this looks amazing." Randy admired the food. "But I think you look a lot better."

"Thanks." Candice blushed finding it hard to avoid his sweet comments.

The two began to eat and they made small talk as they ate. Candice was sure to steer clear of anything that had to do with them. Randy had proven Candice's fear so many times during dinner as well. Every chance he got, he'd hold her hand or make small comments. It was the small things that really stood out. Candice became lost in her own little world when Randy snapped her out of it.

"Candice, you ok?" Randy waved his hand in front of her.

"Yeah, sorry." Candice shook her head slightly. "Just thinking."

"Yeah, I've been thinking too." Randy replied as he took her hand into his.

"Yeah, thinking is great." Candice swallowed as she moved her hand to take a drink of her water.

"Well, I've been thinking about us." Randy smiled at her as he scooted closer.

"You always think about us." Candice laughed slightly as her nerves were going crazy.

"You know you're beautiful." Randy stated as he gazed at her.

"You tell me that all the time." Candice blushed as she was caught off guard.

"That's because, Candice…" Randy started feeling good about himself. "I love you."

Hearing those words made Candice turn her head quickly at him. Shock was clearly written on her face as she just stared at him. He had really said those three small words, that meant so much. Randy sat there staring at her. He was now becoming nervous. He was sure that she felt the same way, or at least he though. He knew that she had been acting a bit strange as of late, but she would always brush it off. Maybe he had read her the wrong way. He was unsure if he should have told her that now, as she just stared at him. He slowly looked away. He had too look anywhere but her. Candice noticed him looking around the room, and then she realized what she had done. She hadn't even answered him at all. She just let him sit there wondering. She shut her eyes, she couldn't tell him the same words, even if she did feel the same. It would be much more harder. Her heart raced as she felt the tears stinging her eyes. She quickly got up and ran upstairs to her bedroom. Randy watched as Candice ran off. He felt bad now, for he believed that he may have scared her away. He wanted to make sure that she was ok and to explain to her that if she wasn't ready to say the words, then she didn't have to. He walked up the stairs and he looked at the door half open. He slowly walked to the door and opened it. When he walked in he saw her crying on the bed. He was going to say something, until he took notice of the suitcases and duffle bag that were packed full. He looked over at her as he stood in his same place. The radio was still playing through out the room. The song didn't help much with the situation at hand.

_When all our tears have reached the sea  
Part of you will live in me  
Way down deep inside my heart  
The days keep coming without fail  
A new wind is gonna find your sail  
That's where your journey starts_

"Candice, I'm sorry." Randy stated. "If you're not ready to…"

"It's not you Randy." Candice cried not able to look at him. "It's me."

"Well, what's going on?" Randy feared his own assumed answer. "What's with the bags?"

"I'm moving." Candice bit her bottom lip. "My mom got a job in California."

Randy became speechless. She was leaving half way across the United States. He shook his head as he looked at her crying. How could she do this too him. He thought back to the talk that her and her mother had on Christmas Eve. That's when she had began to act odd. He should have put two and two together. This upset him more, knowing that she waited until the last minute to tell him. His heart was breaking as he walked over and sat down next to her. He wrapped his arm around her in a hug to hold her. She cried on his shoulder as she played with her fingers. It killed her to do this.

_  
You'll find better love  
Strong as it ever was  
Deep as the river runs  
Warm as the morning sun  
Please remember me_

"Can't you stay here?" Randy questioned, it being his first reaction.

"Stay here?" Candice looked up at him with a tear stained face.

"Yeah, I mean you already live here anyway." Randy suggested.

"I can't." Candice shook her head and looked at her hands. "I can't leave my mom."

"Sorry for being a bit selfish…" Randy spoke a bit of his being upset shined through. "But you can just up and leave me?"

"It's not even like that." Candice said as tears continued to spill from her eyes.

"Sorry…" Randy trailed off knowing he wasn't being fair.

He couldn't believe she was leaving him. It was only months ago, that he was trying to stay with Candice and learn to love her. Only for it to be present time, and she leaves him when he tells her he loves her. Randy shook his head as he thought back to before he had fallen for Candice. If he would have known, he would have probably never gotten over Stacy. So, in a way he was thankful for Candice in helping him get over Stacy. It just didn't seem fair to him. Why did she just have to up and leave him.

_  
Just like the waves down by the shore  
We're gonna keep on coming back for more  
'Cause we don't ever wanna stop  
Out in this brave new world you seek  
O'er the valleys and the peaks  
And I can see you on the top_

"Randy, I don't want to say those words to you." Candice spoke softly not looking at him.

"Why?" Randy looked at her. "You obviously don't feel the same."

"I do Randy!" Candice said standing up as she only got more upset. "But if I say them, it's only going to be that much harder to leave."

"Then say them and don't leave." Randy didn't realize how inconsiderate he was being.

"Randy, you're being unfair." Candice cried as she stood with her back to him.

"I'm being unfair?!" Randy questioned with shock. "I'm not the one moving half way across the United States and waiting until the last minute to say something."

"So I should have just said something when I found out?" Candice continued to cry. "So we'd break up then rather then now."

Randy went silent for a few minutes. He understood what she was trying to say. He was just being unreasonable on purpose. He was hurt and didn't want to see her go. Randy knew that she had a point and he guessed it was better to get it over with now then before. I was nice having her around and she helped him in so many ways that she would never know. He looked up at her crying her eyes out with her back still to him. He slowly walked over to her and wrapped her in a hug. He sure was going to miss her.

_  
You'll find better love  
Strong as it ever was  
Deep as the river runs  
Warm as the morning sun  
Please remember me_

"I'm sorry." Randy confessed as he breathed in his hair. "I forgot that I'm not the only one hurting."

"It's ok." Candice cried into his chest.

"You don't have to say the words." Randy spoke softly as he held her. "I know how you feel."

"Randy, you'll find someone else." Candice pulled back to look at him. "You're an amazing guy, you'll find happiness and love again."

"Yeah, I know." Randy sighed. "But it wont be the same."

"I know…" Candice looked away. "It will be better."

"What girl could ever fill your shoes?" Randy tried to make it a joking manner.

"There are plenty of girls out there…" Candice trailed off as she wasn't joking.

"I don't date just any girl." Randy looked at her. "How could any of them compare to you?"

Candice stood there wanting to tell Randy how wrong he was. All she could do was think about how wrong he was. She knew Stacy was still head over heals for him, and she could only hope that in due time the two would get back together. As much as it would kill her to know they were dating, she'd want them to. It was only fair, and Candice believed that she had stolen Randy from Stacy in the first place. Even though Stacy was perfectly fine with it. You just get that feeling when you date someone's ex. Candice looked up at Randy who was staring back down at her. She'd miss him way too much.

_  
Remember me when you're out walkin'  
When snow falls high outside your door  
Late at night when you're not sleepin'  
And moonlight falls across your floor  
When I can't hurt you anymore_

"You never know Randy." Candice swallowed the lump in her throat. "Things change in time."

"Well, I'd have to get over you first." Randy gave her a sad smile.

"Just don't forget about me." Candice whispered as her tears began to form again.

"How could I?" Randy looked down at her.

"I need to get going." Candice said as she heard a car honk from outside. "That's my cab."

"I'm going to miss you!" Randy spoke not once letting any tears fall.

"I'm going to miss you too!" Candice bit her bottom lip as her tears threatened to fall.

They stood in each others arms for a moment that felt like a lifetime. Randy wiped away her tears that had slipped from her eyes. She gave him a weak smile as he leaned down and kissed her one last time. The two held the kiss for some time before breaking apart. It was a sweet and sorrowful kiss. After the kiss, Candice pulled away from him fighting her tears, which she was obviously losing. She put her duffle bag on her shoulder. Randy moved to help her, but she stopped him. She couldn't have him help her, because it would be that much harder for her to leave in the cab. Once she was situated, she grabbed her two large suitcases and walked out the door. She turned and looked at Randy one last time as tears streamed down her face. He waved at her as she turned and walked out of his life. Randy stood there in shock for the longest while before reality sunk in. Candice was gone and forever. His legs gave out from underneath him and he fell to the ground. He leaned against the bed as he sat on the floor. Shocking himself, he found himself crying. Not once did he ever believe that he would cry over a girl.

_  
You'll find better love  
Strong as it ever was  
Deep as the river runs  
Warm as the morning sun  
Please remember me  
Please remember me_

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you liked it. I have a couple of chapters to go before this story is finished and I start my sequel. So be prepared for some twists and turns. I may jump from certain dates, just because not much happens in months between. So stick with me. Let me know what you all think. Thanks to all my reviewers. Special thanks goes out to MutantXHottie, Gawjuzdiva, missbean1997, SuperDooperMario, and T-money1.

Citcat


	56. College Acceptance

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 56: College Acceptance

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

The rest of February flew by quickly. Everyone was upset with the departure of Candice Michelle, but all moved on from it. She would never be forgotten, but they couldn't sit around in the past. Paul and Stephanie were very content with one another and happy in their relationship. This were going perfectly fine for them. Chris and Trish began dating, but kept it on the low. No one knew that the two were dating just yet. They wanted to make sure that it would work out first, before telling anyone. Slowly, Randy started getting over Candice. Stacy was there for him to help cheer him up. The two spent a lot of time together and always had a good time with one another. They were happy being friends, even though Stacy still wanted more. She wouldn't act on it still, remembering that she told Candice that she wouldn't do anything unless Randy made the first move.

The month of March came right around the corner. Everyone was excited and nervous around this time of the year. It was the month when college acceptance letters were sent out. The entire gang had filled out college applications way back in November, and now they were receiving their letters. They all applied to different colleges, and pairs out of the group had applied to colleges together. They'd all be happy if they got into at least one college, since it was one of their dreams to go to a college.

XoxoxoxoX

All three girls, Stephanie, Stacy and Trish sat in Trish's bedroom. They were sitting on her bed with their unopened letters sitting in the middle of them. All three of them were staring at them, contemplating on opening them. There was three letters for each of the girls. After staring at them for a while, they looked up and stared at each other. Opening those letters would mean, the start of their new life. Sadly, their new life would be without one another. They knew they'd keep in touch, but they wouldn't be able to hang out like they would do now. All girls had the same thought in their heads as they looked back down at the letters. As much as they wanted to go off to college, they were scared to start something new and unfamiliar.

"Well, maybe we don't have to open them." Stacy spoke first looking up at her friends.

"Why wouldn't we open them?" Stephanie questioned as her eyes never left the pile.

"If we don't open them…" Stacy explained. "We'll never know if we got accepted or not."

"But don't we want to know?" Trish asked as she looked up at her blonde friend.

"Not if we don't want things to change." Stacy frowned as her eyes fell upon the letters.

"We could pretend like we never got them." Stephanie smiled at her thought.

"One minor problem." Trish replied the obvious. "Our parents."  
"They'll be asking." Stacy sighed. "Why do things have to end?"

"They aren't technically ending." Stephanie piped up. "It's just beginning."

"No, it's all over." Stacy pouted sticking her lip out. "We'll never be able to just, sit around in our bedrooms and do nothing together."

"We can always come and visit one another." Trish stated as the reality was starting to set in.

"Like we have the money to fly all over the world every weekend." Stacy said sarcastically.

"We can make the best of it." Stephanie spoke. "We'll see each other on holidays and breaks and summer."

"I hope so." Trish and Stacy responded in union.

"So, lets just open these letters and get it over with." Stephanie gave a small smile grabbing one of her letters.

"Well, you go first Ms. McMahon." Stacy motioned for Stephanie to go first.

"Don't you mean Mrs. Levesque." Trish smirked with a giggle.

"Shut up!" Stephanie blushed as she read the front of the envelope. "This one is from Boston University."

"Why the hell do you want to go all the way over there?" Stacy blurted out.

"Stace!" Trish nudged her in the side.

"Sorry, go on Steph." Stacy smiled sweetly.

Stephanie rolled her eyes with a smile as she took a deep breath. Boston University was her first choice. She loved the campus and the area it was in when she had visited. If she didn't get accepted, she' be truly devastated. Boston University had been her dream since she was in the 8th grade. She slowly tore the envelope open. She scanned the letter as her eyes came to the first paragraph. Her face fell as she read the first sentence of the paragraph. Trish and Stacy looked at Stephanie trying to read her facial expression. They were having a hard time reading her. The look she wore didn't give anything away. Worried that their friend didn't get accepted to her number one school, they wait patiently for her to speak. Trish decided to push her a little into speak.

"Well…" Trish spoke getting Stephanie's attention.

"I got in!" Stephanie looked up from the letter with a huge smile on her face. "I got in!"

"That's great Stephy." Stacy smiled leaning in and hugging her friend.

"I'm so proud of you." Trish smiled as well. "What about your other two letters."

"I could care less." Stephanie was ecstatic. "I got into my first choice, I could care less if I got into the others."

"You still have to open them." Stacy replied pushing her the other two letters.

"I bet Paul got into Boston too." Stephanie wondered as she grabbed her letters. "We applied to the same schools."

"How did I know that that was coming." Trish rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Knowing you two…" Stacy started. "Paul more then likely probably did."

"Anyways." Stephanie said as she opened her next one. "Wow, I got into University of Connecticut too."

"You applied to one near home?" Trish questioned aloud.

"Yeah, it was my safe college." Stephanie answered. "The one I knew I'd be able to get into."

"You go girl!" Stacy shouted. "Open your last one."

Stephanie looked at the last envelope in her college. This would be her second choice. The letter was from New York University. Stephanie quickly opened the letter and gave it a once over. Her smile turned into a slight frown as she read the letter. She didn't get accepted into NYU. She was ok with it though, she had gotten into her first choice and that's all that mattered. She looked up at her friends who wore a sorry look. The three girls hugged and then pulled apart. Stephanie happy with the colleges she was accepted into, she looked at Stacy.

"Your turn Stacy." Stephanie ginned. "Start opening."

"Why do I have to go next?" Stacy questioned.

"Because Trish and I voted and you lost." Stephanie smirked.

"Nice one." Trish giggled.

"Oh whatever." Stacy laughed taking one of her envelopes.

Stacy breathed in and out as she held the letter from the University of Maryland. She couldn't lie, as much as she liked it here in Greenwich, she had missed Baltimore. She applied to the University of Maryland in Baltimore as her first choice. Stacy opened the letter as she read the first few sentences. A couple of tears fell down her cheeks as she read the letter. Trish and Stephanie looked at one another as they watched the tears spill for Stacy's eyes.

"Aw, Stace it's ok." Trish rubbed her back. "I'm sure you got into one of the other two."

"You don't have to cry." Stephanie spoke setting her hand on Stacy's knee.

"I got in!" Stacy cried tears of happiness. "I'm going back to Baltimore."

"So why are you crying?" Trish questioned confused.

"I honestly didn't think I'd actually get accepted." Stacy softly smiled taking another letter. "I'm going there, no matter what these say."

"You go girl." Stephanie giggled at her friend.

"I got into University of Pennsylvania." Stacy read off as she opened the other letter. "They rejected me from University of Miami."

"Aw, it was probably because you weren't tan enough." Stephanie laughed.

"I bet the girls there major in sun bathing." Trish laughed as well.

"Thank goodness I didn't get into their school." Stacy replied pretending to wipe sweat from her forehead. "I wouldn't have fit in."

"I'm sure after a while you would." Stephanie giggled. "Ms. Stratus, your turn."

"Ok, ok." Trish answered picking her letters up. "With you two opening your letters, it makes me excited to open mine."

"Watch little Miss Smarty Pants get accepted to all three of them." Stacy smirked joking around.

"I'm not perfect." Trish blushed as she opened her first letter.

"If you say so Miss Valedictorian." Stephanie laughed along side Stacy.

Trish opened her first letter. It was her safe school that she had applied to. She applied to Princeton University. She knew she'd get into it just because she had the smarts and grades for it. As she opened the letter, her facts were confirmed. She had been accepted to Princeton, which was one of the hardest schools to get into. She looked up at her friends, knowing they'd make some smart comments but all in all they'd be proud of her.

"Well, what is the verdict?" Stacy questioned trying to look over Trish's shoulder.

"I got into Princeton." Trish smiled.

"Shut up!" Stephanie shouted snatching the letter from her. "You little over achiever."

"It was nothing." Trish giggled softly. "It was my safe school."

"Safe school?" Steph and Stacy spoke at the same time. "You're funny."

"I'm serious." Trish smiled.

"Then what other colleges did you apply to?" Stephanie furrowed her eyebrows at the other two letters.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to open them and see." Trish laughed taking her other letter.

She looked at the letter from her second choice of schooling. It was from Brown University, which was located in Rhode Island. This was her second Ivy League University that she was applying too. She wasn't sure if she'd be accepted or not, but she did like the campus and area it was in. Her heart raced as she read the letter and a huge smile came onto her face. She had been accepted into her safe college and her second choice college. Trish looked up at her two best friends who were staring at her.

"I got into Brown!" Trish was overwhelmed with emotion. "I can't believe it."

"We can't believe it." Stephanie's eyes were wide. "How the hell did you get so smart?"

"All I did was study." Trish grinned.

"Sure you did." Stacy joked. "You probably paid off the teachers."

"Oh whatever." Trish laughed with her friends.

"Well, who's the next letter from?" Stephanie questioned. "Which I'm sure you got accepted to too."

"Come on." Trish looked at Stephanie. "What are the chances that I got accepted to all three schools?"

"Very likely." Stacy smirked as she took the letter from Trish. "University of Toronto?"

"You're going outside of the country?" Stephanie eyed Trish.

Trish took back her letter and she quickly opened the letter not wanting to wait any longer. Her eyes quickly scanned the entire letter. Trish's heart nearly fell to the floor as she read her first choice's letter. The University of Toronto had accepted her into their school. When realization hit, she jumped up off the bed and started dancing around. Stacy and Stephanie looked from each other to Trish and then back to one another. By the looks of it, they assumed that Trish had been accepted into her first choice. They smiled at their friend's happiness.

"Congrats Trish." Stephanie and Stacy hugged Trish tightly.  
"Thanks guys." Trish hugged them back.

"This sucks." Stephanie now was pouting.

"What?" Stacy and Trish asked looking at their brunette friend.

"We all are going in different ways." Stephanie stuck her bottom lip out. "Stacy, you're going to Maryland. I'm going to Boston and you Trish. You're going all the way outside the country."

"We'll keep in touch." Trish tried to give her a reassuring smile though it was more for herself as well.

"You've seen those movies though." Stephanie looked at her friends. "Everyone graduates and goes on their own way and never speak again."

"Stephy, we aren't the movies." Stacy spoke changing her opinion from earlier. "We are real people with real lives. We'll make it through and keep and touch."

"I hope so." Stephanie kind of smiled. "I don't know what I'd do without my girls."

With that said, the girls hugged again and held on tightly. They were so scared and excited at the same time. They vowed to make the rest of their time together the best that they could make it. There days were quickly coming to an end and that meant, that their days were quickly about to start the beginning of their new lives.

XoxoxoxoX

The guys, Paul, Randy and Chris all sat around in Paul's bedroom just like the girls. Paul was sitting on his own bed, Chris was sitting on the desk chair and Randy was sitting on the bean bag chair that Paul owned. They had their letters in their hands. Paul had three letters, Randy had two and Chris had one. Paul had applied to all the same colleges that Stephanie had applied to so they could be together. He also really liked all the campuses as well, so it wasn't fully just because of Stephanie. Randy only had found two schools that he liked and didn't bother filling any others out. He had a good feeling he'd get accepted to at least one of them. Chris on the other hand only filled out on application. He wasn't too big on the idea of college. He didn't think that the college life was for him really. So he applied to one school, and if her got accepted, he'd try it out for the first year. If he liked it, then he'd continue on with his schooling. The guys just sat around talking about anything but their letters. They weren't as into it as much as the girls were.

"Maybe we should start opening these things?" Chris spoke looking at the envelope.

"Yeah, I guess." Randy replied. "I bet the girls already opened them already."

"Wouldn't doubt it." Paul answered as he stared at the envelope from Boston University in his hands.

"I'll open mine first." Chris offered. "Since I only have one to open."

"I still can't believe that you only applied to one school." Randy laughed.

"I really could care less I guess." Chris shrugged.

"Well, as long as you are doing what makes ya happy man." Paul nodded in approval.

After that being said, Chris tore open his envelope from the University of Hartford. Since he wasn't so sure about college, he picked a campus close to home as well. He had researched it, and it was the only one he found any interest in. Jericho scanned the letter reading each word slowly. He double checked his reading as shock over came him. He had gotten accepted to UH. This was something he really wasn't expecting. He filled out one application and he got in.

"Looks like I'm going to University of Hartford." Chris looked up at his two buddies.

"Wow, that's great man." Paul congratulated Chris.

"If you say so." Chris laughed as he rolled his eyes. "Its worth a try."

"That's true." Randy spoke up fingering his letters. "Wonder what Trish will think?"

"What's it matter?" Chris questioned eyeing his friend.

"Well, you two seem really close as of late." Randy stated. "Am I right Paul?"

"Yeah, you two have been spending a lot of time together." Paul agreed with Randy.

"You guys are reading to much into things." Chris quickly said. "It's not like we're dating."

"Dude, why are you getting all defensive?" Randy asked as he stared at Jericho

"We never said you two were dating." Paul eyed his friend getting a thought.

"Oh, yeah." Chris tried to just shake it off because they had agreed not to say anything just yet.

"You and Trish hooked up didn't you?" Paul questioned a hint of fact in his voice.

"What?" Chris couldn't look Paul in the eyes.

"Oh my… You did." Randy's mouth fell open. "Since when?"

"You guys can't say anything." Chris sighed. "We are trying to keep things on the low, so we know that things will work out."

"Damn!" Randy and Paul stated together.

"That means you can't tell Stacy or Stephanie." Chris looked at his two best friends.

"Aw, come on." Randy whined. "That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair." Chris laughed.

"Since when?" Paul questioned again.

"Valentine's Day." Chris answered as a smile came on his face.

"No wonder you two have been so chummy." Paul shook his head. "Your secret is safe for now."

"You know the girls are going to kill us since we knew before them." Randy shook his head.

"I'll talk to Trish about it." Chris spoke to Randy. "Now, you open your letters."

Randy tore open the Missouri State University envelope. He had family in Missouri and knew it would be pretty awesome to be able to go back and have a reason to visit them. He didn't really have a first or second choice since he only applied to two schools. It was a give or take. He figured if he didn't get into one then he'd get into the other one. As he looked over the letter, he shrugged his shoulders slightly. Paul and Chris looked at Randy and gave a sympathetic nod knowing full well what that gesture meant.

"Well, I didn't get in to MSU." Randy nodded his head tossing the letter in the waste bin.

"You still have the other school too." Chris pointed out.

"Which is from where?" Paul asked right after.

"It's from University of Maryland." Randy held the envelope taking a breath.

"That's your hometown." Chris stated the obvious.

"Yeah, you have been hanging out with Trish." Paul smirked implying that Trish had her blonde moments at times.

"She's not dumb!" Chris defended. "She's quite smart and I just know she'll be valedictorian."

"Dude, I was just joking." Paul put his hands up in defense.

Randy ignored his friends as he looked down at the letter in his hands. He had no clue what was in store for him as he opened that letter. Reading the letter, a smile formed on his face as he saw the words "_Randy Orton, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the University of Maryland"_. Randy's heart raced as he read the line over and over again. He was truly happy. It had been so long since he had been to his hometown. After thinking about it, he was glad that he didn't get accepted to MSU, because he'd much rather go back to Baltimore where he came from.

"I got in!" Randy spoke breaking up his two friends.

"That's awesome dude!" Paul gave Randy a high five.

"Looks like two out of the three of us are going to college." Chris said looking over at Paul.

"I guess that leaves me then." Paul chuckled a bit nervous to open the letters in his hands.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Randy asked. "Well, let see which college you and Steph are going to?"

Paul rolled his eyes at his friends as he opened the letter to New York University. He read it over slowly, only to come to find out that he wasn't accepted into NYU. A sighed escaped his lips as he tossed the letter in the waste basket. The other two men in the room took notice and assumed that he didn't get accepted. They kept quiet as Paul opened his next envelope. This one was from University of Connecticut. He had considered this one a safe school as well in case he didn't get into the other ones as well. As he opened the letter, a smile came on his face.

"I got accepted into University of Connecticut." Paul smiled at the fact he got into at least one school.

"Looks like we're all going to college." Chris laughed out loud.

"The guy still has one more to go." Randy pointed at the last envelope.

"I'm kind of scared to open it." Paul confessed.

"Why?" Chris looked at Paul. "It's only a letter."

"Boston University is Stephanie's first choice." Paul stated a bit shaky.

"Yeah, ok, what's that go to do with you?" Chris questioned.

"What if I don't get in?" Paul answered in question.

"Then you go to University of Connecticut." Randy shrugged.

Paul didn't respond as he looked down at the letter. He figured to just open it before assuming anything. Levesque ripped the letter open and quickly read over the letter. A look of shock covered his face. His heart nearly fell out of his chest. Jericho and Orton looked at their friend with wondering eyes. They didn't understand why it made a big deal if Paul didn't get into Boston University. They watched as Paul set the letter down on his bed slowly.

"I didn't get in." Paul spoke as if things were unreal.

"Can you explain to us what the fuss is about?" Randy asked.

"Please do." Chris encouraged.

"Boston University is Stephanie's dream school." Paul sighed running a hand through his hair. "If she gets into Boston, and finds out that I didn't, she wont go."

"Why wont she go?" Chris questioned in a state of confusion.

"She's rather be with me." Paul looked down at the rejection letter. "We were talking about it and she pretty much said she would go to which ever I got accepted to."

"Well, what if she didn't get accepted to University of Connecticut?" Randy asked again.

"She'd get a job and stay here and re-apply next school year." Paul shook his head. "What am I going to tell her?"

"Tell me what?" Stephanie questioned as she walked into the room.

Paul's eyes shot to the door as he saw Stephanie walk into the room. He quickly grabbed the letter of rejection and placed it behind his back so it was out of sight. Stephanie smiled at the other two guys in the room as she walked over to Paul. She kissed him on the cheek and then pulled back with a smile on her face.

"Oh, just some great news." Paul lied, which he hated doing.

"Oh really?" Stephanie replied. "I have great news too!"

"What, you get into Boston University?" Chris asked not thinking before speaking.

"Yeah, I did!" Stephanie smiled as she turned from looking at Chris to looking at Paul. "Isn't that great?"

"Yeah it is babe." Paul hugged her. "It was your first choice."

"I told the girls that I had to tell you in person." Stephanie blushed. "I just know that you got accepted too."

"Did you get accepted to the other schools?" Paul asked trying to change topics as Randy and Chris sat in silence.

"I got accepted to University of Connecticut but not NYU." Stephanie answered. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Paul laughed uneasily and undetected by Stephanie.

"You said you had great news." Stephanie spoke. "You got into Boston didn't you?"

Stephanie asked her question full of hope and excitement. Paul looked at her as he thought of how to tell her the truth. Chris and Randy watched as Paul was in thought. They knew he was thinking of the right words to say. They stayed quiet through the small wait as Paul was gathering his thoughts. Paul looked away from Stephanie and to Randy and Chris. His face wore a look of asking for help. Orton and Jericho again shrugged their shoulders as Stephanie's back was to them. They didn't know what to say or how to help. Paul then looked back up at Stephanie and into her sparkling blue eyes. They were filled with so much love and hope. He knew what she was waiting for. Paul took a hold of Stephanie's hands and looked up at her again.

"We're going to Boston University." Paul tried to smile, as he felt horrible for lying.

"You are?" Chris and Randy questioned at the same time.

"I knew it!" Stephanie shrieked.

Stephanie kissed Paul and then wrapped her arms around him for a hug. Chris and Randy stared at the couple. When Paul's face was out of Stephanie's view, he breathed a sigh of relief in front of his two best friends. Jericho and Orton shook their heads in disappointment. Paul Levesque just lied to his girlfriend. How would he get out of this one now.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Thanks again for all my reviewers. It means a lot to me that I receive your reviews. They are the best thing a writer can get. Thanks again and don't forget to review this chapter.

Citcat


	57. University Sweatshirt Day

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 57: University Sweatshirt Day

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

A week had gone by from when the group found out what colleges they were accepted to. They didn't really discuss it much, and didn't know where each friend was really going. They would soon find out though, because it was Monday morning at school. This Monday, was the day that the seniors would wear their sweatshirts of the college they would be attending in the fall. It was tradition for all of Greenwich High. It also gave the seniors a boost of confidence as under classmen and staff congratulated them on their acceptance. All of the gang was wearing their sweatshirts, with the exception of Paul. He chose not to wear the University of Connecticut because he knew Stephanie would question him and she'd find out that he had lied. He had still yet to tell her the truth. He didn't know how, so he managed to just brush it off. Trish had still not told the girls about her and Chris' relationship. She was still unaware of the fact that the guys knew about it because Chris hadn't told her anything yet.

Chris and Paul were standing by Paul's locker before the classes started. It was still rather early and they had some spare time. Jericho smoothed out his sweatshirt that read University of Hartford. His parents were proud of him for getting accepted and had gone out the way to pay for college for him. If he didn't like the college experience, he was afraid of letting them down. He wouldn't let that get to him until later though. Chris looked at his friend Paul who was digging around in his locker.

"Where's your sweatshirt?" Chris questioned examining his friend's clothing.

"I forgot." Paul lied as he found the book he was looking for.

"You're such a liar." Chris shook his head. "Why don't you just tell her?"

"I can't tell her." Paul sighed. "She'd be crushed and I can't let her stay here with me."

"Tell her that." Chris shrugged as he leaned against the lockers.

"It's not that easy." Paul shut his locker. "You don't know her like I do."

"Well, you still need to tell her." Chris spoke crossing his arms.

"I know…" Paul trailed off as he looked at his hands.

"She'll be wondering why you don't move in on the same day as her." Chris stated getting under Paul's skin.

"Could you just shut up dude!" Paul replied irritated.

"Sorry man." Chris stepped back. "I'm just trying to help you out. The longer you lie and don't talk to her, the worse things are going to get. Look what happened with Trish and I when we didn't communicate."

"I'll tell her." Paul breathed in. "When the time is right."

"And that will be?" Chris questioned as he seen Trish and Stephanie coming towards them from behind Paul. "Now?"  
"I don't know when I'm going to tell her." Paul answered. "Just let it go."

"Tell me what?" Stephanie smiled walking up to the two men with Trish.

Stephanie stopped at Paul's side and hugged him. Paul smiled at her as he leaned down and kissed her. He then placed his arm around her waist as she looked up at him with a smile. She then looked over at Chris and Trish. Chris shook his head at the look on Paul's face. He knew that Paul wasn't going to say anything. Trish smiled at the couple in front of her. She then looked over at Chris, wondering if it would be ok if it would be ok to announce their relationship.

"Just how beautiful you look today." Paul lied with a smile.

"You always say that." Stephanie blushed as she looked down.

"I think he wanted to tell you something else Steph." Chris replied looking Paul in the eyes. "Didn't you Paul?"

"Stop playing games and just tell me." Stephanie looked up at Paul. "What is it?"

Paul glared at Chris as he shook his head. He was thankful that Stephanie didn't see the glare he was giving Chris. Paul eyed Chris, and then looked over a little to Trish standing at his side. A large smirk formed on his face as Chris became confused. Jericho noticed Paul looking at something. He followed Levesque's eyes and watched as they fell on to Trish. Chris snapped his head back at Paul knowing full well what he was about to tell Stephanie.

"Well, Steph, since Chris insists that I tell you." Paul smirked. "Our little Chris here has a girlfriend."

"You have a girlfriend?" Stephanie questioned with shock as she looked over at Chris.

Chris shook his head as he glared at Paul in return. Why hadn't he seen that on coming. He felt the eyes of all three of them on him. He turned and looked at Trish with a nervous smile. She had her hands on her hips as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. This was her first time hearing, that Paul knew. So, that meant that Randy knew as well. As much as she wanted to be mad, she couldn't be. It meant that he was ready to be open about their relationship. Trish smiled at Chris as she nodded that it was ok. Chris sighed a breath of relief and gave her a smile in return. Paul witnessing the act between the couple cursed to himself. He knew it wasn't going to go as planned.

"Yeah, I do have a girlfriend." Chris smiled as he looked at Stephanie.

"Who?" Stephanie questioned wanting to know the answer. "Don't leave me hanging."

"Just some beautiful blonde." Chris chuckled as he wrapped his arm around Trish's waist.

"No way!" Stephanie's jaw dropped. "You two are back together?"

"Yeah!" Trish blushed looking away from Stephanie.

"How long?" Stephanie questioned as she looked up at Paul.

"Valentine's Day." Chris replied as he smirked at Paul.

"You knew all along and you didn't tell me?" Stephanie looked up at Paul.

"He told me not to say anything." Paul defended putting his hands up in the air.

Stephanie was going to say something, when she looked down at him. More or so his chest area. A look of confusion came across her face as she examined his clothing. Paul took notice of this and cursed himself again. He began to get nervous as he started to laugh slightly. Chris motion Trish to come with him as they walked away. Trish didn't want to leave, but followed suit with Chris. She'd find out what was going on later.

"Where is your hoodie?" Stephanie asked looking him up and down.

"Would you believe they sent me the wrong size?" Paul chuckled a bit.

"The wrong size?" Stephanie looked up at him. "I don't believe it."

"I didn't either." Paul looked down with a frown. "I really wanted to wear it with you."

"Aw, don't be sad." Stephanie went to give him a hug. "We can always wear them together a different day."

"Thanks." Paul hugged her back. "I knew you'd understand."

"I love you, why wouldn't I understand." Stephanie pulled back and kissed him on the cheek.

Paul gave her a small smile as the couple turned and began to walk to their classroom. The bell hadn't rung yet, but they decided to place their things in there. Levesque shut his eyes as they walked. Her words kept ringing in his head. "_I love you, why wouldn't I understand?"_ He hated lying to her, but he knew she'd be devastated if he told her that he was never accepted into Boston. Paul looked down at her in her pink Boston University sweatshirt. She looked really cute in the sweatshirt. As he watched her walk into their classroom to set her bag down, he knew exactly what he needed to do. He'd do it later though. Paul would wait until after graduation to do what needed to be done.

XoX

Trish and Chris walked into the lounge and got a coffee. Chris paid for both the coffees as the two walked over to the sofa to sit down. Trish sipped her coffee as she noticed Chris' sweatshirt. A smile came on to her face as she realized that Chris had decided to go to college after all. She knew that he wasn't in to the whole idea, and supported him either way. When she looked down at her coffee, she frowned taking notice of her own sweatshirt. The lettering read University of Toronto. She'd be going out of the country soon and Chris would be staying here. They had just gotten back together, and it seemed like they'd be apart again in the near future. Chris took notice of Trish's frown and put his arm around her shoulders as they were seated on the sofa.

"Why the long face?" Chris asked as he sipped his coffee.

"Nothing." Trish tried to smile. "You're going to University of Hartford?"

"Yeah, they accepted me." Chris chuckled. "Can you believe it?"

"Yeah, I can." Trish stated looking down and swirling her coffee.

"I know what's wrong." Chris replied with realization.

"It's noth…" Trish was soon cut off by Chris.

"I thought we were going to be honest with one another?" Chris eyes his girlfriend.

"Yeah…" Trish sighed looking away from him.

"It's not like we have to break up." Chris answered rubbing her shoulder.

"I'm going out of the country!" Trish frowned as she looked up at him.

"We will be ok." Chris reassured her. "We have postage mail, email, myspace, face book, xanga, IM, webcam…"

"You would say webcam." Trish rolled her eyes with a small smile.

"I'm liking the sound of that." Chris smirked as she elbowed him in the side. "It was only an idea."

"You're such a pervert!" Trish giggled. "Life is so unfair."

"Hey, we'll see each other over our breaks." Chris smiled at her. "Time will fly by."

"If you say so." Trish smiled as she leaned in and kissed Chris.

After their kiss, Trish pulled away and snuggled closer to his side. He tightened his arm around her, afraid to let go. With his free arm, he took another drink of his coffee. He looked down and smiled at Trish at his side. It was nice having her back in his life, and he didn't understand how he screwed up in the first place. She'd always have his heart. He knew her being outside the country would be hard on the both of them. The more he found himself trying to reassure Trish, he realized it was more of a reassurance for himself. What would he do with her gone for so long?

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy pulled into the school parking lot and parked her car in a space. She sat in her car for a few minutes listening to the radio. She moved her head along with the music. She looked over to the passenger seat where her bag, purse and cell phone laid. She first grabbed her cell phone and checked the time on it. Then she placed it in her pocket. Next she grabbed her purse and placed it on her shoulder. She turned forward to the steering wheel and shut the car off and took her keys out. She put the keys in her purse and grabbed a hold of her bag.

"AHHHHH!!!" Stacy screamed turning to her door.

Stacy recollected herself breathing in and out. Randy laughed as he pulled away from the window. He had been ducked down by her door watching her through the side view mirrors. He waited for her to face the window, and he popped up in front of her. He continued to laugh as she screamed and tried to calm herself down. He stepped away from the door as she got out of the car. She locked and shut the car door. Stacy then turned and looked at Randy and glared at him. She punched him in the arm, and began to walk away from him and towards the school building. Randy instantly grabbed his arm as he felt a rushing sting shot through his arm. He knew Stacy could fight, but didn't realize how strong she really was.

"Aw, Stace!" Randy laughed as he rubbed his arm. "Come on, it was a joke."

Randy ran after her as she sped up her pace. He picked up his pace, and was able to grab a hold of her. He ran up behind her and wrapped his arms around her as he continued running. Once his arms were wrapped around her they both leaned forward, almost falling to the ground. Randy caught himself, and made sure they didn't fall on to the ground. Stacy couldn't help but giggle along side of Randy's laugh.

"Did it hurt?" Stacy questioned as she was unable to move at the moment.

"What hurt?" Randy questioned, his arms still interlocked around Stacy's waist as he stood behind her.

"My punch to your shoulder?" Stacy smirked as she giggled.

"Yeah, it did." Randy laughed. "You've got an arm."

"Thanks, don't do that again." Stacy replied. "Or I'll punch you again, but I wont be so friendly about it."

"Feisty much?" Randy joked around.

"Maybe." Stacy smiled as she looked down at his arms. "Randy?"

"Yeah?" Randy looked down at her.

Stacy looked up at him as their eyes met. She stared into his blue eyes and couldn't help but smile. He was back to being himself. The last month, he had been really down about Candice and wasn't up to much. It was nice seeing him back to his old ways. They hadn't heard much from Candice, and they assumed it was probably for the best. She looked back down at his arms wrapped around her. They were standing as if they were dating again, but they weren't. She pointed to his hands and arms around her waist.

"Oh, haha." Randy laughed sarcastically removing his arms. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Stacy smiled at him. "Don't be sorry."

"You know you liked it." Randy laughed putting an arm around Stacy's shoulder.

"In your dreams Orton!" Stacy giggled as they walked inside the school building.

"Ouch!" Randy faked being hurt. "That stung, thanks Stace!"

"Anytime." Stacy laughed as they walked towards her locker.

Once they reached her locker, Randy took his arm off from around her. He smiled at her as she started to take a few books out of her locker. He smiled at her as he watched her. As he watched her, he noticed her sweatshirt. He didn't know that Stacy was accepted into University of Maryland. Randy was glad that she did though. He'd be able to stay in touch with at least one of his best friends.

"Stace, why didn't you tell me you got into University of Maryland?" Randy asked as he looked at her.

"It must have slipped my mind." Stacy answered shutting her locker. "What's it matter?"

"Well, I'd like to know who I'm going to college with." Randy said sarcastically with a laugh.

"We're not going to the…" Stacy stopped mid sentence as Randy smoothed out his sweatshirt on purpose. "University of Maryland together. You got in?"

"Yeah I did." Randy smiled happily. "As I take it you did too."

Stacy dropped her bag and purse and ran into Randy's arms as she hugged him. He swung her around as they hugged. He set her back down on her feet as she looked up at him with her arms still wrapped around him. They both smiled at each other as they held their embrace for a short while. No words were spoken for that short time. Once they pulled apart, Stacy picked up her bag and purse and then looked back at Randy.

"I can't believe we are going to the same university." Stacy spoke smiling at him.

"Me either." Randy smiled back at her. "We're the only two staying together."

"What are you talking about?" Stacy looked up at him. "Paul and Steph are going to Boston together."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Randy quickly stopped himself. "My mind isn't in the right place today."

"Yeah, I've noticed." Stacy smirked with a small giggle.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Randy looked down at her.

"If your mind was in the right place." Stacy started. "You wouldn't have scared the hell out of me!"

"Aw, are you still upset about that?" Randy smirked as he wrapped his arms around her again standing behind her.

"Randy, what am I going to do with you?" Stacy sighed with a soft laugh.

"Love me." Randy answered giving a cheesy grin.

"You know what the sad thing is?" Stacy bit her bottom lip holding back a smirk.

"What?" Randy asked her as he was still holding her with his arms wrapped around her.

"I already do love you." Stacy shook her head. "And I ask myself why everyday."

"I knew it!" Randy laughed at her little act.

Stacy laughed along with him. If only Randy knew that she was serious about what she said. She knew that he only took it in the friendship way and that was ok with her. As long as he was happy, she would be able to be happy as well.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please let me know what you all think. Thanks again for all of your reviews that you send in. I love them all and they make me want to post quicker and write for you all. So keep them coming please.

Citcat


	58. Prom Night

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 58: Prom Night

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

The song is called "Differences" by Ginuwine and "From This Moment" by Shania Twain.

XoxoxoxoX

The months of March and April passed by quicker then ever. Spring break happened in the middle of April. The gang packed up and took a road trip to Florida. Everyone hung out and soaked up the sun. They all enjoyed their last real break together and made the best of it. Paul still hadn't told Stephanie about Boston just yet. The guys kept pushing him to do it, until he told them that he'd tell her before graduation. He wanted to spend the rest of his time with her being happy. Trish and Chris became cuter and closer as time flew by. Stacy and Randy continued just being friends and having a good time. It was really easy for them to be friends, and if they could be friends, then a future for them looked good.

It was now the month of May. This was there last month of school, and then it would be time for them to graduate. It was a Saturday evening, and all three girls were getting dressed for the prom in Stephanie's bedroom. Stephanie of course was going with Paul and Trish was going with Chris. A couple weeks prior to prom, Randy had asked Stacy to go with him. She agreed quicker then anything, even though it was just them going as friends. The plan was for the guys to pick them up at Stephanie's house in a long black limo. All three guys had chipped in to pay for the limo, and wouldn't let the girls pay for anything. The girls were getting nervous as they did their hair, make-up and everything else they needed to do to get ready.

"I can't believe it's our senior prom!" Stacy spoke excitedly as she did some last minute touches to her hair.

"Me either!" Stephanie blushed as she looked over her dress in the mirror.

"It better be everything and more." Trish giggled. "We've been waiting for this since we were eight years old."

"Tell me about it!" Stephanie and Stacy smiled at the same time.

Stephanie wore a long light pink dress. The upper front part, was in a v-neck to reveal some cleavage. The straps tied around the back of her neck. The dress clung to her sides, and as it went down to the floor, it began to fan out just a little. The seems of the dress had silver sparkles tracing the dress. She wore match pink high heeled sandals, though they were hidden under her dress. Her hair was in an updo, that Trish had done for her. She had two strands of hair hanging out on each side of her face. She had very light make up on, but enough to match her dress. She smiled at herself in the mirror as she placed her silver necklace on around her neck. The neck hung very high towards her neck, but rest enough on her chest. Her earrings were sparkling diamond studs that her mother had given her prior to the event. On top of everything else, she wore the promise ring that Paul had given her for Christmas. Stephanie felt like a million bucks.

Trish wore a sleeveless, blue, tube dress. The dress fell just above her knees. It was a very light shade of blue at the top and it faded into a darker blue as the dress went down. Gems traced around the dress in a circle to bring out the chest area more. The back of the dress, had a blue bow that had the strings hanging loosely with the dress. She wore matching blue heels. Her blonde hair was flowing down straight, with curls all around her hair. Stacy had fixed her hair up, and Trish loved it. Her make up was very light as well, with a light shade of blue. She didn't want to overdo it. She wore dangly earrings that sparkled and a matching necklace around her neck. Trish felt like she was a princess in a fairytale.

Stacy wore a slimming red dress that clung to each and every curve of her body. The dress went down to the floor covering her feet. It was a satin material that had a shine to it when you looked at the dress at a certain angle. The top of her dress had sleeves that hung loosely on the sides of her shoulders. She wore matching red shoes, even though no one could see them. With her dress, she wore red long gloves that went up to her elbows. Her hair was half up and down. The bottom part of her hair was in curls and the top was in a fancy bun. Stephanie had done Stacy's hair for her like that on purpose. Steph wanted Stacy's crown to look good with her hair, even though Stacy hadn't won Prom Queen yet. Along with her dress she wore sparkling red studs and a ruby gem necklace that hung down to her chest. Stacy felt like she was on top of the world.

"We look sexy!" Stephanie nodded in agreement at her friends and herself in the mirror.

"Damn right we do!" Trish smoothed her dress out.

"We're going to be the best looking women there!" Stacy smiled as she checked herself out.

"Girls!" Vince knocked on the door before popping his head in the room.

"Hi daddy!" Stephanie smiled.

"Hey Princess." Vince smiled. "Are you girls ready?"

"Yeah, we are." Trish said for everyone.

"Good, because your mother sent me up here to take pictures." Vince smirked entering the room fully with the digital camera at hand.

"I'm so sure mom really sent you up here." Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"Come on girls." Stacy giggled. "Let's do the Charlie's Angel pose."

The girls grouped together and did the Charlie's Angel pose. After that pose, they did a few others as well. They took pictures of them as a group, by themselves, and individual two person shots. Linda had come upstairs along side with Shane. They then took pictures of Vince with the girls, and with just Stephanie and Vince. Then the same went with Shane and Linda. Once they were all finished taking pictures, there was a knock on the door. The girls looked at one another and huge smiles came on their faces. It was time for them to get going to the prom.

"That must be the guys!" All the girls shrieked.

"I'll go get the door." Shane smiled at the girls. "You all look beautiful."

"Thanks Shane!" The girls said together as he left the room.

Shane went downstairs to the front door. He opened the door and was greeted by the three guys, known as Randy, Paul and Chris. They all were in their tuxedos with their respective colors to their dates. Chris' undershirt rather then white, was the same color blue as Trish's dress. Randy's undershirt was red and Paul's was pink. The guys made fun of him for wearing a pink undershirt, but he didn't care. He knew it would make Stephanie happy and that's all that mattered. He liked the pink undershirt. It didn't look that bad. All three men had the respective colored corsages in their hands as they stood at the door with smiles on their faces. Shane shook his head as he allowed the guys to come in. They all walk in and Shane shuts the door behind them. They all lined up as Vince and Linda came down the stairs. They told the three men that the girls would be down shortly. Only a few minutes later, all three girls came down the stairs, one by one. First Trish, then Stephanie, and then Stacy. They came down by height. All three of the guys' jaws dropped at the sight of their dates. They sure did look amazing. After the girls were downstairs, they all spoke to one another and were commented on how they looked. Vince and Linda of course wanted pictures, so they began taking all different varieties of pictures. After wards, the gang all left and got into their awaiting limo. Inside the limo, they all sat by their respective dates.

XoxoxoxoX

Later that night, everyone as at the prom and enjoying their time. A fast up beat song had just come to an end and a slow song played through the speakers. Couples started pairing off and moving to the dance floor. Chris and Trish, as well as Paul and Stephanie moved to the dance floor. Both men placed their hands on their girlfriend's waists as they wrapped their arms around their necks. Randy and Stacy were sitting this dance out and just enjoying their time together.

_Girl you open me I'm wide open  
And I'm doing things I never do  
But I feel so good, I feel so good  
Why'd it take so long me finding you?_

This is my story and I'm telling you  
It's not fiction, it's surely a fact  
Without you right here having my back  
I really don't know just where I'd be at

Chris and Trish swayed back and forth to the music. They were standing very close together, almost as if they were joined as one. Trish's head rested on his shoulder as her arms were wrapped around his neck. Chris' hands were placed gently on her lower back holding her close. Trish's face wore a soft smile as they danced to the song. She couldn't help but think of how happy she was to be in his arms. Everything was so perfect that it felt like a dream.

"You look beautiful tonight." Chris whispered in Trish's ear.

"Thanks." Trish blushed slightly. "You look good too."

"Not as great as you." Chris held her tighter. "Trish?"

"Yeah?" Trish questioned turning to look up at Chris.

"I love you." Chris smiled softly at her.

"I love you too." Trish breathed softly as she smiled up at him.

Chris leaned down, and Trish met him half way as their lips slowly met. The kiss was soft and genuine. They were soon having a low key make out session on the dance floor. After their kiss, they pulled away needing air. Smiles were on both of their faces as they stared at one another. Trish then leaned her head back on his chest with a satisfied smile on her face. Chris rested his chin gently on the top of her head smelling her blonde hair. These moments were becoming rare, and he wanted them to be the best and most memorable.

_  
I analyzed myself, I was buck wild  
Never thought about settling down  
But all the time I knew I was ready  
But not with all my friends around_

But girl, I put you first now (I put you first now)  
You made me, helped mold me (Mold me, baby)  
Turned me into a man, I'm so responsible  
And I owe it all to you

_  
My whole life has changed (My whole life has changed)  
Since you came in, I knew back then (come on)  
You were that special one (You were that special one)  
I'm so in love, so deep in love (Oh, oh, oh....)_

Paul and Stephanie slowly danced to the soft music of Ginuwine's "Differences". Stephanie's hands rest on Paul's broad shoulders. His hands rested on her lower back as he held her close to him while they danced. They stared into each others eyes the entire time. Going to prom with anyone else would have not been anything nearly amazing compared to going with Stephanie or Paul. The song seemed to fit them perfectly as smiles crept onto their faces. Paul leaned down and kissed Stephanie softly with his lips. There seemed to be no care in the world.

"Thanks for making this the best prom night ever!" Stephanie blushed at him.

"Anything for you." Paul smiled as he pulled her closer to him then she already was.

"You're the best." Stephanie sighed happily as she stared into his eyes.

"I love you so much." Paul spoke almost as if he was going to lose her.

"I love you too." Stephanie looked at him. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Paul gave a weak smile. "Just happy to be here with you."

"Stop being so sweet." Stephanie replied blushing.

"Why, I love to see you blush." Paul bit his bottom lip as she rest her head on his shoulder.

Stephanie shut her eyes as she rested her head on his shoulder. Her dreams were coming true and her life was just beginning. She'd be going to Boston University and Paul would be coming with her and spending his life with her. She looked at her hand that was placed on his chest. The ring he had given her, that matched her dress sparkled ever so beautifully. She smiled at the ring thinking that this was all a fantasy. Paul watched as she gazed at the ring. He knew he'd hate himself later, but he wouldn't let that get to him tonight. This would continue to be his best night with the love of his life.

_  
You made my life complete (You made my life complete)  
You are so sweet, no one competes  
Glad you came into my life (So glad you came in)  
You blind me with your love (Blind me, baby), with you  
I have no sight_

XoxoxoxoX

Another hour went by with a mixture of up beat fast songs and mellow slow songs playing. Everyone danced and had a good time. When they weren't dancing, there were little snacks and drinks being served. The end of a fast song came and the principal Mrs. Heartman got on stage. She smiled down at her senior class as she grabbed the microphone. Before speaking, she watched as all the students stopped dancing casually and turned to face her. They waited impatiently, knowing what was coming next. She was about to announce the Prom King and Queen. Mrs. Heartman called the three contestants for Prom King up on the stage. Randy Orton, Dave Batista, and Andrew Martin walked up and stood side by side of each other. Andrew looked over at Randy and the two shared a nod. There wasn't too much hard feelings. As long as Stacy was happy, Andrew was happy. After the men were on stage, Mrs. Heartman called the girls running for Queen up on stage. Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson and Terri Runnels all walked onto the stage when their name was called. Terri gave Stacy a once over and sighed. She knew she was competing with the best, and her chances of winning was low. Hell, Stacy beat her in everything. Terri frowned a bit as she looked over at Randy, who was staring at Stacy unnoticed to everyone else. He was obviously happy with her and was falling for her all over again. Terri looked away and put on a small smile. She knew she'd never have another chance with Randy, but she was thankful that he would be with Stacy then some other girl. As much as Terri tried to dislike Stacy, she knew that Stacy had a good heart. Mrs. Heartman smiled at the six seniors on stage. She looked back at the crowd who were cheering for their friends.

"I guess I better just get this over with then." Mrs. Heartman laughed. "Your winner for Prom King is… Randy Orton!"

Andrew and Dave gave Randy a firm handshake and nodded at him. They agreed that he deserved it. He walked up to the center stage as the other two competitors walked off stage. He kneeled down for Mrs. Heartman to put the crown upon his head. Once the crown was placed, he looked towards the crowd and gave them a thumbs up and a very large smile. Paul, Steph, Chris and Trish all hollered and cheered for their best friend on stage. Randy took a step back, as Mrs. Heartman took center stage again. Before she announced Prom Queen, Randy looked over at the three ladies standing there anxiously. A smile formed on his face as he watched Stacy shake a little. He was hoping that she'd win and be crowned Queen with him.

"Lastly, but not least, your Prom Queen…" Mrs. Heartman paused for a moment. "Stacy Keibler!"

Stacy nearly cried as her name was being called. Her hands went up to cover her face as she hid behind them. To everyone she was hiding her tears of happiness. Winning Prom Queen meant so much to her, and she had won. Her entire group of friends were cheering for as they waited for her to step forward. She was in so much shock that she had forgotten how to walk. Randy smiled as he walked over to her and took her arm away from her face. Terri and Torrie silently left the stage, to let Stacy bask in her glory. Randy stuck his bottom lip out at Stacy, as he took his hands and wiped her tears away with out smudging her make up anymore then it already was from the tears. After that, he took her hand into his and led her over to center stage. A few tears glistened in her eyes as the tiara was placed on her head. Randy gently squeezed her hand letting her know that he was happy for her. She looked up at him and smiled. Mrs. Heartman then announced that the two would share in a dance all on their own. Randy then led Stacy down the stairs of the stage, and to the center of the dance floor. He placed his hands on her lower back, as she placed her arms around his neck. They stood real close together as the song started to play.

_I do swear that I'll always be there.  
I'd give anything and everything and I will always care.  
Through weakness and strength, happiness and sorrow,  
for better for worse, I will love you with  
every beat of my heart._

_From this moment life has begun  
From this moment you are the one  
Right beside you is where I belong  
From this moment on_

The couple swayed to the music as the everyone sat down or stood watching them. They both felt like they were really a King and Queen. What a perfect way to end their senior prom night. Randy smiled as he looked down at Stacy who seemed to be in her own little world. He knew an even more perfect way to end the night. Randy stared at her as she continued to be in her own world. Feeling his eyes on her, she turned her attention to him and looked up at him. She smiled at him smiling down at her. She felt amazing right now and the night couldn't get any better.

"I knew you'd win." Randy smiled staring at her.

"Well, I knew you'd win too." Stacy semi copied him.

"You know, you look absolutely beautiful tonight." Randy spoke honestly.

"Thank you." Stacy blushed as she turned away from Randy.

_  
From this moment I have been blessed  
I live only for your happiness  
And for your love I'd give my last breath  
From this moment on_

I give my hand to you with all my heart  
Can't wait to live my life with you, can't wait to start  
You and I will never be apart  
My dreams came true because of you

Randy chuckled slightly as he watched her blush and turn her head away from him. He'd forgotten just how amazing and cute she was. Again, he stared at her, waiting for her to look at him. He knew he'd be taking a chance at what he was about to do, but he'd risk it. As of late, they seemed pretty cozy with one another but he hadn't thought much of it. While the two continued to dance, he could help but realize how much of a flirt he was being with her up until this point in time. Again, feeling Randy's eyes on her, she turned and looked at him. Stacy couldn't help but smile up at him as she listened to the lyrics of the song. To her the song felt like it was meant for them, even though he had no clue that she was in love with him and felt the way she did.

"Stacy?" Randy questioned as they looked into each other's eyes.

"Yes?" Stacy answered back in question.

"Thank you." Randy gave her a soft smile.

"For what?" Stacy replied as they continued to dance.

"For always being there for me." Randy looked at her as he slowly and subconsciously leaned in towards her.

_  
From this moment as long as I live  
I will love you, I promise you this  
There is nothing I wouldn't give  
From this moment on_

You're the reason I believe in love  
And you're the answer to my prayers from up above  
All we need is just the two of us  
My dreams came true because of you

Paul and Chris motioned Stephanie and Trish to look out on the dance floor. They all smiled as they witnessed something they hadn't witnessed in a while. Stacy's heart began to race as Randy's face kept coming closer to hers. Without thinking she found herself slowly leaning in the rest of the way. Within seconds their lips met for the first time since late October. The kiss was long awaited for, for both Randy and Stacy. It had been so long, that the kiss sent tingles down each of their backs. Their hearts raced, as they continued their sweet and passionate kiss. Randy slowly pulled away leaving Stacy still slowly swaying with him with her eyes shut. Stacy's eyes opened and was met by his soft blue eyes. She truly felt like she was really a Queen.

_  
From this moment as long as I live  
I will love you, I promise you this  
There is nothing I wouldn't give  
From this moment  
I will love you as long as I live  
From this moment on_

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please let me know what you think. All reviews are welcome. They inspire me to keep writing for you all. I only have two more chapters, and this story will be complete.

Citcat


	59. The Bonfire

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 59: The Bonfire

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

It was now May 31st and on a Friday night. Time surely had flown by quickly the past few months. There was a Senior bonfire going on tonight to celebrate their leaving. As of the month of June, they would only be graduating. This day marked their final day of classes and high school life. It was a custom tradition that took place on the football field. They had a bunch of wood burning into the night sky as all the seniors gathered around hanging out with one another for the last time. Again, all the seniors were to wear their college sweatshirts to show which colleges they had agreed to go to. The University Sweatshirt day, was just to show that they had been accepted into colleges. Tonight was to show which ones they would actually be attending in the fall. The entire gang had planned on going to the bonfire and they did, but showed up at different times.

Stephanie and Trish walked up to Randy, Stacy and Chris standing around. Stacy gave the two girls hugs and smiled at them. Randy and Chris had followed suit and gave them hugs as well. The five stood around in a circle mingling to themselves. Stephanie continued to look around as she hadn't seen Paul at all since she had shown up. He had been acting a bit strange as of late and she didn't know what was up.

"Hey, have you guys seen Paul?" Stephanie asked with her hands in her front pockets.

"Someone say my name?" Paul questioned making his way into the circle of friends.

"Hey." Stephanie spoke as she looked Paul up and down.

Paul didn't respond back as he noticed Stephanie looking him up and down. He kind of nodded as he looked over at Randy and Chris. Stephanie became confused as she looked at his sweatshirt that read "University of Connecticut" across the front. She wondered why he was wearing that sweatshirt rather then his Boston University one. She slowly looked back up to his face where she was met with his eyes.

"Why are you wearing University of Connecticut?" Stephanie asked confused. "Where's your Boston University sweatshirt?"

Again, Paul didn't respond as he placed his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie. He leaned back and forth on his feet thinking of something to say. He was quickly saved when Stacy grabbed a random senior. She gave him the camera to take a picture of the six of them. The question Stephanie had asked previously was put on hold, as the group all got close together to take the picture. As a group they all smiled at the same time and waited for the flash to go off. Once the flash went off, Stacy told the senior thank you and let him be on his way. She previewed the picture on her digital camera and show Trish and Stephanie. The girls smiled at the picture before looking back up at the guys. Paul took this as his sign to talk to Stephanie.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Paul asked as he walked over towards Stephanie.

"Yeah." Stephanie responded as she looked up at him.

Paul and Stephanie walked away leaving their four friends in the little circle. The couple walked over towards the bleachers where there weren't very many people. They both sat down on the cold metal seats as it became quiet, with the exception of the faint sounds of their class having a good time. Paul sat there unsure of what exactly to say. Stephanie sat their waiting for him to talk. She looked down at the ground unaware of the amount of space between herself and Paul. A soft and small sigh escaped Stephanie's lips before she began to speak.

"So, are you going to talk or what?" Stephanie asked as she looked over at Paul.

"Yeah, it's just not easy." Paul replied not looking at her. "It's kind of hard for me."

"What's not easy?" Stephanie questioned again.

"I'm not sure if I really want to go to Boston University next year." Paul answered as he finally looked over towards Stephanie.

"What?" Stephanie became confused at the actions of her boyfriend.

"I've just been thinking about it a lot lately." Paul began. "I'm just not exactly sure that Boston is the right choice for me. Steph, for you, it's a great choice, but it's just not for me."

"We applied to Boston so we could be together." Stephanie spoke confusion and hurt clear in her voice. "You said Boston was your first choice like mine and that you couldn't picture yourself anywhere else."

"I know, I know." Paul sighed turning away from her. "I guess, I just changed my mind."

"Ok, so we just go to University of Connecticut together?" Stephanie questioned. "I got accepted there too."

"No, I think you should still go to Boston." Paul answered as he then again turned to face her. "You really should, it's your dream. I'll just go to Connecticut."

There was a long moment of silence as Stephanie took in what she was hearing. How could her all of a sudden not want to go to Boston with her. It was their first choice, and not just because they were a couple. She couldn't believe he was telling her this and now at this moment. She didn't understand how Paul could go from being accepted into Boston, to not wanting to go to Boston. She was so confused and lost. It's been months since they had all gotten accepted into a college and he was happy about it. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what it was.

"Do you really mean this?" Stephanie asked looking up at Paul's eyes.

There was another long pause between the two as Paul looked away from her. He took a moment to rethink about what he was doing. As much as he hated it, he knew it had to be done. This was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever have to do. He knew it would have been better to do it now, then to wait until after graduation. Paul still wanted her to have an amazing graduation day. He noticed at the corner of his eye that she was still staring at him and waiting for an answer.

"I'm sorry, I think it's for the best." Paul replied as he looked back at her and into her eyes.

"Ok…" Stephanie nodded looking away from him unsure of what to think or say. "Well, I guess if this is how you feel, then fine."

"It is how I feel." Paul swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "We can't be together anymore."

Stephanie shot her head towards Paul as she looked at him. Her eyes grew wider as she looked over at Paul. Her heart was racing and a lump was forming in the back of her throat. She tried to swallow it away as tears built up behind her eyelids. Stephanie stared at Paul, just waiting for him to say he was joking around and that he didn't really mean it. She searched his eyes for any hope or sorrow, but she couldn't find anything. After a moment, Paul turned his head away from her. That was all it took for Stephanie's tears to start running down her face. She bit her bottom lip as she stood up and quickly walked off away from Paul. She left him sitting there regretting everything he had just done.

XoxoxoxoX

As the night progressed, Trish and Chris ended up leaving the bonfire early. They said their goodbyes to their friends, although they couldn't find Stephanie. The couple drove back to Chris' place. They both got out of his car and entered his house. Trish looked around the house as Chris took his jacket off. The house was deadly quiet and she couldn't tell if anyone was home. She jumped a little when Chris placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Sorry." Chris replied. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's ok." Trish smiled as she turned to him.

"Can I take your jacket?" Chris questioned as he started to take her coat off.

"Yeah." Trish helped him take her jacket off. "Where is everyone?"

"They went to stay at my grandparents this weekend." Chris answered hanging her jacket up.

"Why didn't you go?" Trish asked as they moved towards the living room.

"I had better reasons to stay home." Chris smiled at Trish as they sat down on the couch.

"Like what?" Trish blushed looking down at her hands.

Instead of answering her question verbally, he lifted her chin up to look at him. He looked down deep in her chocolate brown eyes. Trish could feel the blush becoming deeper as he stared into her eyes. Chris smiled softly at her as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Their kiss was soft and sweet with a hint of passion in it. After a moment, Chris pulled away from Trish and smiled at her. She smiled back up at him as he took his hand from her chin and placed it on top of her hand that was on her thigh. He smirked deciding to answer her question.

"You." Chris spoke softly.

"Me?" Trish questioned. "What about me?"

"You asked what my better reasons were." Chris replied. "You are my better reason."

"Oh, I knew that." Trish blushed looking away from him.

"Anything you want to do?" Chris asked as he ran a hand down her blonde hair.

"Not really." Trish turned to look at him. "As long as I'm with you."

Chris smiled at her and then grabbed the remote from the table. He turned the television on and they picked a movie to watch. After maybe twenty minutes the couple was no longer watching the movie. They were in a heated make out session on the couch. Their kisses were becoming hotter and hotter. Trish's hands were roaming all over Chris' chest and back as she was the one laying on her back on the couch. Chris' hands massaged her sides as they went up and down her body. He moved his lips down to her neck, once she gave him access to her neck that is. Trish shut her eyes enjoying the moment they were sharing. Her heart fell as she felt Chris stop their make out session. He pulled himself up and looked down at Trish. Their eyes met and they held their eye connection.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to." Trish spoke breaking the silence.

"I know." Chris smiled down at her. "I just wanted to make sure you wanted to go through with it."

"You have no idea." Trish whispered as she pulled Chris back down to her lips.

The couple shared in a long passionate kiss again. After the kiss, Chris stood up and took Trish's hand. She looked confused at first, until she realized him taking her upstairs. He led her up to the top of the stairs and they entered his bedroom. He shut the door behind him, before their lips met again. They fell onto his bed while kissing. Both their hearts raced as their clothes were quickly removed from their bodies. A couple moments went by, and they were both under the blankets with only their bare skin touching each other. They were kissing and their kisses had become gentle and passionate. Chris again pulled away from her just a little bit. Her face wore a look of confusion as she looked up at him. Had he changed his mind about making love to her. She watched him as he watched her.

"Is everything ok?" Trish asked softly looking up at him.

"Yeah, everything is fine." Chris looked down at her. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yeah, I am." Trish smiled up at him.

"You know, it's going to make it that much harder when you leave." Chris spoke staring her in the eyes.

"I know." Trish frowned at little bit. "But, for this moment, all I want is you and that's it."

Chris smiled down at her as he leaned and met the lips of his girlfriend. They kissed softly with smiles on their faces. After a few more moments of making out, the couple embraced one another as they began their love making process. The thought of them leaving to different universities never once crossed their minds as they focused on each other and only each other.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy and Stacy sat next to each other in the grass of the football field watching the fire burn. They were making small talk here and there, but mostly just enjoying each other's company. Stacy watched the fire as the flames flew up into the air. She thought back to prom night and couldn't help but smile as her eyes stayed focused on the flames. They had kissed, but nothing had taken place after that. She wasn't sure what to think of it because the kiss was never played off on. Randy smiled as he watched Stacy watch the fire. He couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was. When he kissed her on prom night, he was waiting for some sort of reaction from her. He never got a reaction out of her and never thought twice about it. The reason he didn't think twice about it, was because Stacy had told him that she wasn't ready to be with him just yet. Though some time had gone by, he wasn't sure just how much time she needed. They'd be attending the same college, so he figured he'd go and make the first move. Randy was knocked out of his thoughts when Stacy spoke.

"What?" Stacy looked at Randy. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, you don't have anything on your face." Randy smiled at her.

"Then what are you staring at?" Stacy questioned confused.

"I just felt like looking at you." Randy chuckled. "Don't you like the attention?"

"Not when you are staring at me when I'm sitting right here." Stacy shook her head.

"Well, I can't help if I like what I see." Randy smirked as he scooted closer to her on the grass.

"Randy, what are you doing?" Stacy asked as she watched the space between them close.

"Doing, what I should have done on Prom Night." Randy whispered in her ear.

He then used his hand to make her look at him. He stared into her eyes for a moment before he leaned in and kissed her for the second time in a long time. Stacy instantly kissed back as Randy's hand went up and through her blonde hair. His other hand took a hold of her hand as he held it. There kiss was long and sweet. Once the two needed air to breathe, Randy pulled away slightly. He was still very close to her face as he looked into her soft brown eyes.

"What was that for?" Stacy asked trying to catch her breath.

"Stace, why are we kidding ourselves?" Randy questioned. "It obvious that we want each other."

"Then what took so long for you to make a move?" Stacy asked a small smile on her face.

"I did make a move." Randy smirked at her. "You never responded."

"When did you make a move?" Stacy asked looking up at Randy. "You never did."

"Prom Night I did." Randy replied moving a strand of hair from her face.

"Oh…" Stacy blushed looking down. "I wasn't sure…"

"Well, are you sure now?" Randy asked as he made her look back up at him again.

"I'm not sure." Stacy bit her bottom lip. "I don't think I got the hint."

"Aw, will you be my girlfriend again?" Randy questioned. "Is that a big enough hint?"

"You know, that sounds like a great offer." Stacy looked away a bit. "But not very convincing."

"I think I know how to convince you." Randy smiled as he took his hand and moved her face to look at him again.

Once their faces were facing each other. Randy leaned in for the second time this night and kissed her again. Stacy responded by kissing him back as she allowed him access to the inside of her mouth. The two French kissed and continued their make out session as people walked by them. The two were so wrapped up in their kiss, that they didn't even realize Paul walk up to them.

"Hey, I hate to break this love scene up." Paul spoke making the couple stop kissing.

"Nice timing dude." Randy chuckled. "Have a seat with us."

"Don't mind if I do." Paul replied, but before he could sit down Stacy spoke.

"Don't sit!" Stacy replied. "Steph texted me earlier."

"I take it she told you." Paul sighed as he looked down at the ground.

"She told me to tell you to go to the lounge." Stacy looked at Paul. "Tell me what?"

"Oh nothing." Paul stated as he left making his way to the lounge.

"What's that all about?" Stacy looked over at Randy.

"He didn't get into Boston." Randy looked down at the grass.

"He didn't?" Stacy questioned. "So what, he told her tonight?"

"I guess so." Randy looked over at Stacy.

"It sounded more serious then that." Stacy said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Randy wrapped an arm around Stacy and held her closer to him. He didn't know what had happened with Paul and Stephanie but knew that he must have told her the truth finally. The recently rekindled couple sat in each others arms watching the fire burn into the night sky. For once, they were finally happy at the same time and together as a couple. They both couldn't wait to start their new lives together.

XoxoxoxoX

Paul walked into the empty school building. All the classroom doors were locked. The only places you could get into were the bathrooms and lounge. They made it like this so the students would be able to use the bathroom while the bonfire was going on. Paul walked down the long empty hall. He was breathing heavily as his heart was racing as he continued to walk. Paul couldn't help but wonder what she wanted or needed. He didn't want to see her again until graduation. He hated the fact that he had hurt her and that's the only reason he didn't want to be around her. It was going to be hard for him to stand in front of her and pretend that he didn't care. As he finally entered the lounge he looked around but didn't see her anywhere. He looked around a bit more, until he saw her come in from the other entrance. She walked in and made her way behind the coffee cart. He slowly walked over to the coffee cart and stood in front of her. The only thing that stood between them was the coffee cart.

"Hey." Stephanie bit her bottom lip not being able to look at Paul.

"What are you doing?" Paul questioned as he watched her.

"I know you're afraid Paul." Stephanie spoke as she began to climb up on the coffee cart.

"Yeah, that you're going to fall." Paul spoke as he watched her get up there. "Don't get up there please."

Stephanie ignored his plea and continued to climb up onto the coffee cart. She stood up straight as she took a few breaths. Her heart was racing and she was trying her best to look at him without crying. Paul looked up at her wondering what on earth she was trying to do. This was the very same coffee cart that only months ago, did Paul climb up on and confess his love for her. She looked down at Paul, and knew she had to make him say the words.

"Your break up is missing the key ingredient." Stephanie spoke as she pushed her hair behind her ears. "Well, the only ingredient."

"Which is?" Paul continued to look up at her, and it killed him to see the hurt still clear on her face.

"That you don't love me anymore." Stephanie barely let out.

Paul looked away from her when she spoke. That was the last thing he wanted to tell her and he didn't even want to tell her that. He shut his eyes taking in a deep breath thinking about what exactly he was going to say to this. He was speechless, because he really didn't want to say those words to her.

"Steph…" Paul said softly in a tone to where it was telling her not to push the subject.

"Look, I love you this much." Stephanie started trying to keep her emotions in check. "And I want to be with you now, and next year and whatever happens after that. After all, isn't that why you gave me this ring?" Stephanie continued on as she raised her hand up to show him the promise ring on her finger. "So, I'm asking you, in the presence of this coffee cart and the sacred moment that it represents, if you can honestly tell me that you don't love me anymore?"

There was a pause and Stephanie stopped talking waiting for Paul to say something. Or at least she was giving him the chance to say something. Paul looked away from her and looked down towards his hands. She was going to make him say the words that he didn't want to. He just had that feeling. He looked back up at her and noticed her shaking a bit. She looked scared and nervous. Stephanie also looked like she was about to break down any second. She was trying her hardest not to let her emotions get to her, but they were catching up to her and quickly.

"Steph, I…" Paul wasn't able to finish as Stephanie started talking again.

"Just say it!" Stephanie looked down at him and into his eyes. "Paul, if you don't love me anymore, I promise that I will go to Boston by myself, and I will be cold, miserable and alone." Stephanie felt her tears forming behind her eyes. "I will never bother you again."

After saying her last bit, she stopped talking. She stood up their impatiently waiting for Paul to say something or to make a move. All he did was stand there looking up at her. Paul stared up at her, and then looked away. He looked down at his hands that were resting on the coffee cart where she stood. He stood contemplating his options and choices. He loved her so much and he hated seeing her like this. Even more, he hated himself for hurting her. She meant so much to him and he just wanted her to be happy. Boston was her first choice in universities since she was in the 8th grade. She dreamed of going there. Paul also knew that she was in love with him and knew that she wanted to be with him. He knew that if he gave her any hope in them staying together, that she wouldn't go to Boston. Looking back up at Stephanie and into her eyes, he knew exactly what he needed to do.

"I don't love you anymore." Paul said not allowing his emotions and true feelings to show.

"Oh my God." Stephanie just barely whispered out as she felt sick to her stomach.

"Steph…" Paul spoke in some way trying to get her to reason with him.

"Just get away from me ok." Stephanie stated as she slowly climbed down from the coffee cart. "Get out of her Paul!"

Paul shut his eyes as he watched her hurting. He sighed as she sat on the other side of the coffee cart to where he couldn't see her. He shook his head as he walked away and out of the lounge. Stephanie sat on the floor holding her stomach. She really felt like she was going to be sick as Paul's words kept repeating in her head. She tried to comfort herself as she pulled her knees to her chest as the tears fled down her cheeks. Her heart was breaking and she didn't know how much more it could break. She looked at the ring on her finger, she was reminded of their past memories. She was in total shock and couldn't believe it. Biting down on her bottom lip, she took the promise ring off of her finger and placed it in her pocket. She shut her eyes as more tears spilled out from them. She held herself as she rubbed her own arms in a comforting way.

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Sorry that it was more focused on Paul and Stephanie, but I really wanted to expand on those scenes and write it out I pictured it. Everything is all cleared up with the exception of the truth behind the break up. Other then that there is no more drama.

There are only two chapters left. Graduation and an Epilogue. Once those two are out of the way, I will begin the sequel, so keep a look out. As for the sequel, the first six chapters will be based on each character to catch you up with their life to date. So, I want you all to tell me which order you'd like me to write the chapters about. So, put your favorite characters in order and let me know. You have to order the following, Stephanie McMahon, Paul Levesque, Trish Stratus, Chris Jericho, Stacy Keibler and Randy Orton. So, please, let me know which order you'd like to see the six chapters done in.

Thanks again and please don't forget to review.

Citcat


	60. Graduation

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 60: Graduation

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

The song is "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion.

XoxoxoxoX

It was the big day that everyone had been waiting for since the beginning of the school year. Today was the day all the seniors would walk down the aisle and receive their diplomas. Greenwich High's senior class would be graduating today. Everyone was doing last minute things to make this day perfect. Some seniors were out getting their hair done and getting a new outfit for under their gowns. While other seniors were spending time with their friends that they knew that they wouldn't be seeing as much of anymore. Families were flying in from all over the country to see their loved ones graduate. As for our core six, they were all ready in their red and white gowns. The red was for the guys and the white was for the girls. They were all sitting on the football bleachers. It only seemed right to meet there, since it was the place they met up at on the first day of school. There was still a bit of awkwardness with Stephanie and Paul, but they both wouldn't let that show for their friends. It was the very last day of their high school life and they wouldn't let this break up, ruin their day. The entire gang was just sitting around, reminiscing on past memories.

_For all those times you stood by me  
For all the truth that you made me see  
For all the joy you brought to my life  
For all the wrong that you made right  
For every dream you made come true  
For all the love I found in you  
I'll be forever thankful baby  
You're the one who held me up  
And never let me fall  
You're the one who saw me through, through it all_

"I can't believe this is it guy!" Trish spoke as Chris took a hold of her hand. "We're graduating today."

"I've been looking forward to this day since forever!" Stacy sighed looking at her friends. "I never realized how hard it would be to graduate."

"We'll be fine ladies." Paul began. "It's not like we wont see each other anymore."

"Yeah, we have breaks and times we can hang out again." Randy agreed with Paul.

"That still doesn't stop our lives from happening." Stephanie spoke as she sat on the other side of her cousin. "We could easily lose touch and get to busy to talk."

"Well, don't think about that then." Chris nudged his cousin. "We've been through so much together, there is no way we could forget on another."

"You've got that right!" Randy laughed. "We've had a lot of good times."

"Don't forget the bad ones." Stacy rolled her eyes. "Without the bad ones, there would be no good ones."

"Like the time, Shane threw water on Stephanie." Chris chuckled. "When she was sleeping."

_XoX Flashback XoX_

_Stephanie McMahon's alarm clock goes off at six in the morning. Steph pulls her pillow over her head, not wanting to get up. Lazily she took one arm and hit the snooze button._

_Peeking his head inside his sister's room, Shane laughed. He knew of the perfect way to wake Steph up. Shane smiled evilly as he crept down stairs. Shane pulled out one of the pictures and filled it will cold water. Boy, he was going to get a kick out of this. He turned the water off and headed back up stairs. Tip toeing into Steph's room, he walked over to her bed. He stood still for a minute. Quickly he dumped the water on Steph and ran out of the room, and into his own. Hearing their daughter's blood curdling scream. Both Vince and Linda ran into Steph's room to see her standing there in wet pajamas._

"_What the HELL happened to you?!" Linda asked walking over to her daughter._

"_Shane through water on me!" Steph pouted._

"_Ohh is that so?" Vince questioned knowing the answer. "Shane, come here."_

_Shane slowly came to Steph's room, acting as if he just woke up._

"_Yes, dad?" Shane asked rubbing his eyes._

"_Don't 'Yes, dad?' me! Why did you dump cold water on your sister?" Vince said sternly._

"_Her alarm clock went off and she wouldn't get up." Shane confessed. "You should have seen the look on her face."_

"_I'm gonna get you Shane." Steph yelled about to chase after he brother._

_XoX End Flashback XoX_

"That so was not funny." Stephanie giggled along with her friends laughter.

"Yes, it was!" Stacy laughed.

"I would have loved to see that." Trish sighed happily.

"Shane is always giving her a hard time." Paul replied as he looked over at Chris.

"Steph, you have to admit, it was funny." Chris chuckled.

"No, you know what was funny." Stephanie grinned. "When Noelle put your alarm clock back."

_XoX Flashback XoX_

_Chris Jericho moved around feeling water spraying him. He opened his eyes to find out that he was in the shower. He stood up quickly and shut off the water. He stepped out the shower. Chris wrapped a towel around his waist, and walked into his room._

_He looked at his alarm clock. It read seven in the morning. Chris shook his head, and hurriedly got dressed thinking he was going to be late for school. When he ran down stairs, he noticed that everyone was still sleeping. He walked into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of milk and looked at the clock on the stove to see how much time he had left. It read six in the morning. Chris thought for a minute. He ran upstairs bumping into his sister, Noelle._

"_Good morning to you too." Noelle said standing up rubbing her bottom._

"_What time is it?" Chris asked._

"_It's six in the morning." Noelle grinned knowing he got up early._

"_Noe, you set my clock forward." Chris started. "Didn't you?"_

"_Maybe?" Noelle said running into her room and locking the door behind her._

"_I'll get you Noelle." Chris said walking away._

_XoX End Flashback XoX_

"Yeah, I guess she got me there." Chris rolled his eyes. "I should have seen that one coming."

"I wonder if she still has a crush on Randy?" Stacy wondered aloud.

"What are you talking about?" Randy asked looking towards his girlfriend.

"Noelle had a crush on you." Paul answered for Stacy.

"She thought you were perfect." Stephanie giggled.

"That reminds me of when Hayley was here." Trish stated as Stacy turned and looked at her.

"Don't we all remember." Randy sighed as he wrapped an arm around Stacy. "I'm glad she's over with."

"Let's not talk about that ok." Stacy said irritated the subject at hand.

"I remember the time when I saw way too much." Randy smirked looking over from Paul to Stephanie.

"Do we really need to talk about this?" Stephanie questioned a small nerve being touched.

"Aw, you know it was funny." Trish patted Stephanie's back.

"It was kind of funny." Paul shrugged his shoulders.

_XoX Flashback XoX_

_Randy looked at Stacy once more before he put his hand on the door handle. He wasn't sure what was in the closet. It wasn't that he was scared, it was just the fact that he didn't know what was on the other side of the door. Stacy watched as Randy began to turn the knob. Taking a deep breath, Randy ripped the door open to get it over with. Randy and Stacy stood in front of the door with their mouths wide open. You could say their jaws hit the floor at the sight they had just witnessed. Paul and Stephanie were shirtless, and Steph's skirt was hiked up. They were in the middle of something that Randy and Stacy never wanted to see. Paul felt a draft of air as he stopped and looked up. Stephanie taking notice of Paul's actions, she looked too. Paul and Stephanie looked out the door, at Randy and Stacy. They were both red in the face and their mouths the same way. Paul and Steph were in a very awkward position at the moment. They stood their for a minute or two, until reality struck Randy, and he shut the door. Randy and Stacy looked at each other, still wide eyed and speechless. After a minute, they both began to laugh as they ran down the hall together._

_XoX End Flashback XoX_

"Can we stop talking about me now." Stephanie looked over at Trish. "What about that time when you and Chris were playing in the snow."

"That was a good day." Trish smiled up at Chris.

"When he threw you in the snow bank." Randy laughed.

"Yes, that was a good day!" Chris sighed happily thinking back to the day.

_XoX Flashback XoX_

"_Ahhh." Chris moaned holding onto his cheek._

"_I'm sorry." Trish came running up to him. "Are you ok?"_

"_I think you hit me with an ice ball." Chris spoke not moving his hand from his cheek._

"_Oh, no." Trish stated with worry clear in her voice. "Let me see."_

"_No, it could be ugly." Chris answered as Trish put her hands on his hand that was on his cheek._

"_Well, let me see, so I know if we should go get you cleaned up." Trish spoke afraid that she had really hurt him._

_Chris then quickly moved his hand from his cheek and grabbing her arm gently. A look of confusion came across Trish's face as she noticed not even a small welt or bruise forming. Hey eyes grew wider, as she saw the snow ball in Chris' hand. She knew that she had been fooled. Chris had taken the snowball and put it down the back of Trish's shirt. She squealed out as the cold snow ran down her back. Her back tensed up trying to escape the cold sensation. Trish instinctively grabbed a hold of Chris' arms, as if it would help with the cold. She was clearly wrong when the melted snow trickled to the lower part of her back. This had caught Trish off guard as she stepped the wrong way and fell backwards into the snow, taking Chris with her. Chris landed on top of her gently and softly. The two began to laugh as they laid on the snow not moving. Chris never thought to move his body from off of the top of Trish. As they continued to laugh and lay there, they let their eyes meet. The laughter subsided quickly as they kept their stare. Chris had the urge to just lean down and kiss her, but wasn't sure if he should. They just repaired things, and he didn't want to make things anymore awkward just yet. Chris slowly got off of Trish, and made it to his feet. As he dusted himself off, he smirked as he looked at the small snow bank in front of him._

"_Sorry about that." Chris spoke offering his hand out to help her up._

"_It's ok." Trish smiled, taking a hold of his hand. "It's all fun and games."_

_Trish couldn't help but be a little disappointed that Chris hadn't of kissed her. She swore he was going to lean in and do it, but he didn't. She knew better then that though, since it was her idea to stay friends for now. She needed to let things play out and let whatever happens happen. Trish pulled herself up with the help of Chris. When their hands touched, Trish couldn't help but stare at their hands as one. She shook her head, as she looked up on him. Chris had a smug smirk on his face and Trish was curious as to why. He was up to something. Her question was answered, when she felt him grab a hold of her waist. He moved a bit closer to the snow bank and he gently threw her into the snow bank. Snow toppled down on Trish, but only a little bit. Not enough to burry her under it. Trish bit her lip while she smirked as well. He thought he was good, but she'd show him. Trish quickly made it to her feet as she charged at Chris. She tackled him down to the ground of snow as they began to wrestle each other. They rolled around on the white ground trying to pin one another. In the process of rolling Chris over, a little bit of snow managed to slide into his shirt. This caused Chris to put his guard down, as Trish rolled on top and pinning him._

_XoX End Flashback XoX_

"Now look at you two." Stephanie smiled at her two friends.

"I know, I know." Chris smirked cockily. "Better then ever."

"Cocky much?" Paul spoke as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Maybe." Chris chuckled. "I have a reason to be."

"What's that reason?" Stacy asked.

"I'm dating the best girl in the world." Chris smiled looking at Trish.

"Aw, Chris." Trish blushed looking down. "He is my king."

"You, know I'd have to disagree with you two." Randy spoke up.

"You have no fact to disagree with us." Chris laughed.

"Yeah I do." Randy smirked looking at Stacy. "Don't I, My Queen?"

"Oh, that's cheating!" Chris joked around glaring at Randy.

"Oh yeah, the prom." Paul laughed remembering the night.

"How could we forget?" Stephanie smiled over at Stacy.

_XoX Flashback XoX_

"_I guess I better just get this over with then." Mrs. Heartman laughed. "Your winner for Prom King is… Randy Orton!"_

_Andrew and Dave gave Randy a firm handshake and nodded at him. They agreed that he deserved it. He walked up to the center stage as the other two competitors walked off stage. He kneeled down for Mrs. Heartman to put the crown upon his head. Once the crown was placed, he looked towards the crowd and gave them a thumbs up and a very large smile. Paul, Steph, Chris and Trish all hollered and cheered for their best friend on stage. Randy took a step back, as Mrs. Heartman took center stage again. Before she announced Prom Queen, Randy looked over at the three ladies standing there anxiously. A smile formed on his face as he watched Stacy shake a little. He was hoping that she'd win and be crowned Queen with him._

"_Lastly, but not least, your Prom Queen…" Mrs. Heartman paused for a moment. "Stacy Keibler!"_

_Stacy nearly cried as her name was being called. Her hands went up to cover her face as she hid behind them. To everyone she was hiding her tears of happiness. Winning Prom Queen meant so much to her, and she had won. Her entire group of friends were cheering for as they waited for her to step forward. She was in so much shock that she had forgotten how to walk. Randy smiled as he walked over to her and took her arm away from her face. Terri and Torrie silently left the stage, to let Stacy bask in her glory. Randy stuck his bottom lip out at Stacy, as he took his hands and wiped her tears away with out smudging her make up anymore then it already was from the tears. After that, he took her hand into his and led her over to center stage. A few tears glistened in her eyes as the tiara was placed on her head. Randy gently squeezed her hand letting her know that he was happy for her. She looked up at him and smiled. Mrs. Heartman then announced that the two would share in a dance all on their own. Randy then led Stacy down the stairs of the stage, and to the center of the dance floor. He placed his hands on her lower back, as she placed her arms around his neck. They stood real close together as the song started to play._

_XoX End Flashback XoX_

The group continued to talk about other good and bad times and laughed along with each memory that came by. This surely was a sad and depressing day for everyone, yet it was happy and fun. Talking about past memories was going ok for everyone. Time flew by rather quickly as they continued to talk. This would be the last time that they all would hang out. Everyone had something to do this summer, which took up most of their time.

_  
You were my strength when I was weak  
You were my voice when I couldn't speak  
You were my eyes when I couldn't see  
You saw the best there was in me  
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach  
You gave me faith 'cause you believed  
I'm everything I am  
Because you loved me _

"So, what is everyone's plans for this summer?" Paul questioned looking at all his friends.

"I'm heading to Maryland early." Stacy smiled as she looked over at Randy.

"So am I." Randy smirked. "We thought it would be best to spend some quality time with our families that we haven't seen since we've moved up here."

"Sounds fun!" Paul replied as he turned to Trish and Chris. "You two?"

"I'm going to Toronto early for an internship." Trish frowned looking down.

"Why the sad frown?" Stephanie looked over at Trish.

"It's going to be so lonely over there by myself." Trish said honestly.

"Well, I'm taking a road trip to Toronto myself." Chris raised his eyebrows. "I'm stalking this blonde woman that's really hot."

"Are you serious?" Trish questioned becoming happier at the moment. "You're coming with me?"

"Yeah, until the school year beings." Chris kissed Trish on the forehead.

"Sounds like you two are going to have a good summer." Paul nodded and for the first time today he looked over at Stephanie. "What about you Steph?"

"I'm going on a vacation to Europe with my family." Stephanie stated not being able to look at Paul. "It will take my mind off a lot of things."

"Right, sounds like fun too." Paul spoke knowing it was to get over their break up. "I'm not doing anything, but staying at home."

"Well, that's boring." Stacy couldn't help but let out. "You should at least do something."

"I guess we'll see." Paul shrugged.

"Guess what time it is guys?" Randy stated looking at his watch.

"What?" The entire group questioned.

"It's time for us to walk!" Randy replied standing up.

The gang all got up off the bleachers and started to head towards their high school auditorium where they would be walking for graduation. They all still continued to laugh and talk and enjoy their time together. They had already picked out their seating arrangements and everything. They all were nervous as the time got closer and closer for them all to begin their new lives. Once they reached the auditorium, they all peaked through the curtains. The entire gang could see everyone out in the crowd. Their entire families were present with smiles on their faces. The mothers all had boxes of tissues and were already tearing up and the graduation ceremony hadn't even started yet. They all pulled their heads from the curtains and looked at one another. The group shared in a hug until Mrs. Heartman told them to get in line, as they were about to begin.

_  
You gave me wings and made me fly  
You touched my hand I could touch the sky  
I lost my faith, you gave it back to me  
You said no star was out of reach  
You stood by me and I stood tall  
I had your love I had it all  
I'm grateful for each day you gave me  
Maybe I don't know that much  
But I know this much is true  
I was blessed because I was loved by you _

_  
You were my strength when I was weak  
You were my voice when I couldn't speak  
You were my eyes when I couldn't see  
You saw the best there was in me  
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach  
You gave me faith 'cause you believed  
I'm everything I am  
Because you loved me _

The graduation and began shortly after and the soft music hit that was traditionally played at all graduations. All the seniors walked out from backstage, and onto the stage. They all smiled and clapped as they walked out. Families were on their feet cheering on their child and the students would wave out to the crowd. Once all the seniors were seated, the ceremony began with Mrs. Heartman saying some words. They sat in a straight line facing the crowd. The line sat as follows, Paul, Chris, Trish, Stephanie, Stacy, and Randy. There were other students sitting on the other sides of Randy and Paul as well. They tried to mingle to one another without making a big distraction to everyone else. It was twenty minutes into the ceremony when Mrs. Heartman called up the valedictorian.

"Now, I'd like to have our valedictorian come up and speak." Mrs. Heartman turned and looked at the seniors. "Trish Stratus."

The crowd cheered as Trish stood up from her speech. Before she walked away from her seat, Chris have her hand a gentle squeeze. She was nervous about giving her speech, but that soon went away as she realized that everyone was on her side. She made her way to the podium and stood up there for a moment. She smiled as she saw her mother and father cheering her on. She then seen her brother Calvin standing up on his chair cheering for her. She turned a slight shade of pink as she watched her brother. Mr. Stratus grabbed Calvin by his pant leg and made him sit back down. Trish took a deep breath before she began her long awaited speech.

_You were always there for me  
The tender wind that carried me  
The light in the dark shining your love into my life  
You've been my inspiration  
Through the lies you were the truth  
My world is a better place because of you_

You were my strength when I was weak  
You were my voice when I couldn't speak  
You were my eyes when I couldn't see  
You saw the best there was in me  
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach  
You gave me faith 'cause you believed  
I'm everything I am  
Because you loved me 

"You know, I can't believe we are up here and that we all made it to this point in our life!" Trish began with a smile plastered on her face. "Our class has to be the best class to walk the halls of Greenwich High. I'm not just saying that because we're graduating, but I truly believe it. We've all come from the same elementary school and middle school. Our entire class has known each other for years. Some of us are closer to others then some of us, but that makes up for the other half that we are closer with. We've all had our ups and downs. There were the hook ups and break ups. There were the dull moments and the shocking moments, yet well all still made it out alive. As a school, we've all come together at all of our events no matter what. Like the nights when we would play our rivals in football or basketball. All the dances that we shall always remember. Looking back at everything we've accomplished, we can honestly say we made it. Now, it is the time for us to go our separate ways and leave this life behind us. For many of us, this is a scary and fearful time. We all have questions like, 'Are we going to survive?' 'Will we make it in the big time?' 'What's in store for us tomorrow?'. Well, whenever you have those questions in your mind, just think back to your high school years. We made it out alive here and we are still going strong. College or the real world, which ever we chose to pursue, after graduation, is nothing compared to high school. If not easier. Just remember, we've all made it this far, and there is only much more to come. We're the class of 2009, we're fine and the world is mine!"

Trish smiled up at the crowd as they applauded her speech. She made her way back to her seat and Chris and Stephanie hugged her. Mrs. Heartman went back onto the stage and spoke again. Another twenty minutes went by and it was time for the seniors to come up and get their diplomas. The principal began calling each student up alphabetically. Families continued to cheer as they stood on their feet clapping and yelling.

"Chris Jericho!" Mrs. Heartman said into the microphone

Chris smiled as he walked up and onto the front of the stage. Once he met up with Mrs. Heartman at the center stage. He smiled at her and she handed him his diploma. Chris then turned to the crowd and smiled as he took a picture with the principal. Jericho then turned back to Mrs. Heartman and gave her a hug. She had helped him his entire four years and he'd be forever thankful for her. Chris' parents cheered and shouted as Chris walked across the stage. Noelle was up close to the stage and snapping pictures of Chris every chance she could get. Chris put his hands up in the air in a way to show that he made it. He then went back and sat down, as she began to call more names.

"Stacy Keibler!" Mrs. Heartman smiled at the blonde standing up.

Stacy stood up as she looked out to the crowd as she made her way up to center stage. She reached Mrs. Heartman and they exchanged smiles and they shook hands. Stacy took her diploma and faced the crowd. She held it up high in the air and posed for her families cameras. Her eyes squinted slightly to the person standing next to her mother. Stacy's smile turned into a full well grin as she saw Candice Michelle standing next to her parents cheering and clapping. Stacy waved to the crowd, but mainly towards Candice. This was a wonderful and happy day. She then walked back over to her seat, and whispered to Randy that Candice was in the crowd. He looked over at Stacy as Mrs. Heartman continued on calling names off. Stacy smiled and nodded yes she's here and pointed to where she sat. Randy looked over in her direction and smiled at her.

"Paul Levesque!" Mrs. Heartman couldn't help but laugh a bit.

Paul was always getting into trouble and she was thankful that he made it to graduation. He reached her and smiled at her. He knew full well she was happy for him to get out of here. He shook her hand and took the diploma from her. Paul then took a picture with Mrs. Heartman and stepped forward. He smiled at his parents yelling for him, but his smile faded as he looked around for his two sisters. He couldn't find them anywhere, until he heard his name being called. He turned his head to the left, and saw Lynn standing at the end of the stage. He then noticed his baby sister Kendal running towards him. The crowd aw-d as they watched Kendal jump into Paul's arms. He picked her up and hugged her and smiled for the cameras. He set her back down on the ground as she ran back to Lynn. Paul went back and sat down with his classmates, as Mrs. Heartman continued with the names.

"Stephanie McMahon!" Mrs. Heartman yelled out to the crowd.

Stephanie bit her bottom lip holding back her tears. They were tears of happiness and she didn't want them to fall. As she made her way to Mrs. Heartman, she took noticed of Stephanie's face. Mrs. Heartman pulled Stephanie into a hug and told her she'd be ok and that she'd make it. Stephanie pulled back and gave her a smile as she took her diploma and took a picture as well. She looked out to the crowd as she held her diploma up high to show off her success. Vince and Linda cheered louder then they ever had. Shane looked at his parents, as he thought they were cheering louder for her, but he knew she deserved it. Shane cheered for his sister as he walked up to the front of the stage. Stephanie blushed as Shane reached the stage with roses in his hands. She leaned down and took the roses, as Shane kissed her cheek. After that, she went back and sat down as the names were still being called off.

"Randy Orton!" Mrs. Heartman smiled as she watched Randy walk up to her.

Randy took a deep breath before heading across stage. Once he was face to face with Mrs. Heartman he shook her hand and she handed him his diploma. He walked up to the front of the stage and did a little pose with his diploma. He smiled as he saw his family cheering him on. His smile became bigger as he saw his three year old sister Shawna holding a sign that read, "My big Brother Randy Did It!!!" He blew her a kiss and Shawna pretended to catch it. He waved to the crowd and looked over to where Candice was sitting. She smiled up at him and he smiled back at her. Randy waved to her as he remembered his past memories with her. She had helped him shape into the person he was today. There was no lie about it, he still loved her, but he was in love with Stacy. They nodded at one another before he made his way back to his seat for the rest of the names to be called.

"Trish Stratus!" Mrs. Heartman spoke again into the microphone.

The valedictorian walked up to Mrs. Heartman and smiled at her. Trish took her diploma after shaking her hand. She looked down at her diploma and smiled at it. She truly felt like she had made it and did everything she possibly could. She looked back up at Mrs. Heartman and gave her a hug. She then walked to the front of the stage where she was met with many cheers and applauds for the second time that night. She held her diploma up in the air, as her father took pictures of her. Calvin got back up onto the chair and started yelling her name. Mrs. Stratus shook her head at her son as she cheered for her oldest and only daughter. Trish smiled at her family as she wiped away a tear from her eyes as she walked back to her seat and sat down, while the last few names were called off.

_You were my strength when I was weak  
You were my voice when I couldn't speak  
You were my eyes when I couldn't see  
You saw the best there was in me  
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach  
You gave me faith 'cause you believed  
I'm everything I am  
Because you loved me _

Mrs. Heartman finished up calling off all the names. She turned and looked at her class of 2009 and she couldn't have been any happier. This was truly an amazing class and she knew that this would always be her favorite class. She turned back to the crowd and poke a few more words of wisdom. The entire gang held each others hands as Mrs. Heartman spoke into the microphone. The six looked at one another as they knew it was almost time. Mrs. Heartman told, her seniors to turn over there tassels and to stand up.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Mrs. Heartman smiled. "I give you, Greenwich High, Class of 2009!"

The entire auditorium went crazy. All the graduates tossed their caps up in the air as they cheered for themselves. The caps went up a couple more times, until they were all caught and placed back onto their heads. The six friends all smiled at one another and they hugged in a big group. They pulled apart and smiled again at one another. This was the moment they were all waiting for. This was their final day together, since most everyone was leaving to do other summer plans. In their hearts, they all knew that they would stay friends forever no matter what. The only thing they hoped wouldn't happen, would that they wouldn't fall out of touch. As they noticed their families making their way up to the stage where they were, they smiled at one another getting the same idea. All at once, they spoke together.

"Friends Forever!" The gang said happily. "This is what we get for Grow Up!"

_  
I'm everything I am  
Because you loved me_

XoxoxoxoX

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I only have an Epilogue left for you all, and then this story will be complete. I hope you all have enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

As for the sequel, the first six chapters will be based on each character to catch you up with their life to date. So, I want you all to tell me which order you'd like me to write the chapters about. So, put your favorite characters in order and let me know. You have to order the following, Stephanie McMahon, Paul Levesque, Trish Stratus, Chris Jericho, Stacy Keibler and Randy Orton. So, please, let me know which order you'd like to see the six chapters done in.

It really doesn't matter which order I write the chapters in, but you all would be a big help if you could let me know what order you'd like to see them in. If not, then I'll just have to write them as they come to me.

Thanks again for all of the reviews you all send me!! Keep them coming!!

Citcat


	61. Epilogue

Title: Growing Up

Chapter 61: Epilogue

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters you don't recognize.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the last chapter. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter. I plan to finish this story before this summer comes up hopefully. I have a bit more free time on my hands and I plan on using most of it to finish this story. I hate saying make sure you review, but reviews are the only way that I know that people are reading the story and want me to continue it. So if you could, please review. It only takes a few minutes, and I'm very thankful for all that do review. I also understand if you can't review. Thank you to all my readers.

XoxoxoxoX

_XoX Fall College Quarter XoX_

Trish sighed as she dropped her last box onto one of the beds in her dorm room. She looked around the empty room, and took noticed that her roommate had been present in the room already. She could tell, because the other bed in the room already had her belongings on it. Her roommate clearly hadn't totally moved in just yet, but it looked as if all her things were up in their room. Trish sat down on the bed that had her items on it and continued to look around the room. The two desks were empty and plain along with their matching wooden chairs. Her eyes traveled down to the hard tile floor, she made a mental note in her head, to purchase a rug later. This surely was a big change for her and something different. Trish pulled out her cell phone from her pants pocket and flipped it open. A small smile formed on her face as she looked at her display picture. It was of Chris and her, which was taken when they came up to Toronto for the summer. They had a blast, but summer went by to fast and it was time for them to go back to the USA and head on to their own ways. She continued to smile at the picture, as her fingers automatically scrolled down her contacts list. The bar came to a stop as Chris' name scrolled across the screen. She contemplated calling him and wondered if she should. He said that she could call him whenever she wanted, and that he didn't care what time of day it was. Trish almost hit the send key to dial the number when a blonde woman entered the room.

"Oh, hi!" The blonde woman smiled walking into the room. "I'm Beth Phoenix."

"Hi, I'm Trish Stratus." Trish smiled as she shook her hand.

"I didn't unpack just yet." Beth replied making her way across the room. "I wasn't sure what bed or desk you wanted."

"Oh, it really doesn't matter." Trish answered. "It's all the same to me."

"I agree, so I guess we'll just take what we have our stuff on already then." Beth looked over at Trish.

"Sounds good to me." Trish stated as her head moved to the door.

Two young males stood in the door way of Trish and Beth's dorm room. Trish obviously didn't know them, but could say different for Beth. The short haired of the two men walked into the room and directly over to Beth. He hugged her then gave her a small kiss on the lips. Beth smiled at him and they exchanged a few words. The other man, who had longer hair, but was more in an afro was still standing in the door way. Trish couldn't help but find him a bit interesting. He was defiantly not from around Canada or America, so that's what was intriguing about her. He looked over towards Trish and flashed her a huge smile and she returned the gesture. Trish looked back over to Beth, who had just looked towards Trish herself.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Beth blushed a bit. "This is Santino, my boyfriend."

"Why, hello there pretty lady." Santino nodded his head at Trish. "That's my best friend Carlito."

"Hi, I'm Trish." Trish spoke introducing herself to the two males in the room. "It's nice to meet you two."

"It's a pleasure." Carlito smiled at Trish. "Are we going Santino?"

"Yeah, we are." Santino replied taking Beth's hand. "You want to come with us, Trish?"

"Where are you guys going?" Trish questioned as she still sat on her bed.

"We're just going to grab a bite to eat and then whatever else comes to mind." Santino answered with a smile.

"I don't know." Trish stated looking down at her phone.

"Aw, come on." Beth encouraged. "It will be fun!"

"You'll never have a dull moment with us." Carlito spoke as he looked at Trish.

Trish looked back up from her phone and over to Carlito. Something about him and the way he spoke with his accent made her rethink her answer. Her head looked back down to her cell phone, that was still open and scrolling Chris' name. She bit her bottom lip as she contemplated the idea of going out. She was in college, and she needed to make the best of it if she was going to be here 8 months. Trish shut her phone closed as she stood up from her bed. There would be plenty of other times she could call Chris, and she didn't want to come off clingy either.

"Count me in." Trish smiled as she got a smile out of all three of her new friends.

XoxoxoxoX

Chris played his music through out his dorm room. He had already met his roommate Lance Cade. He seemed pretty cool to Chris. Lance had left the room about ten minutes ago to go and get his girlfriend. Chris sat as his desk as he surfed the web trying to cure his boredom at the moment. He had moved in earlier this morning and wasn't sure exactly what to do. Yeah, he was ok at making friend, but just didn't feel like meeting new people at the time. He told himself that he'd go out later tonight, since classes didn't start for another couple of days. Chris looked around at his surroundings. And took it all in. The room looked like a guy lived in it. His eyes traveled to the picture to the side of him on his desk. It was a picture of Trish on his back and they were both smiling happily in the picture. The photo was taken this summer at one of the beaches in Toronto. They had a blast this summer and he was already missing it. He nodded at the picture frame and looked down at his phone that was sitting by the keyboard of his computer. He picked it up and opened his contact list. He scrolled down until the phone lit up Trish's name. He wasn't sure if he should call her or not. He'd love to talk to her right now and clear his boredom. As he was contemplating his decision, Lance Cade walked back into the room.

"Hey man!" Lance stated as he entered the room with his girlfriend. "This is Natalya."

"What's up?" Chris nodded to the couple.

"Hi." Natalya smiled at him.

"So, we were thinking about going into town, and seeing what's all in the area." Lance spoke as he went and grabbed his car keys. "You want to come?"

"Where did she go?" Natalya questioned looking behind Lance. "I'll be right back."

"Where'd who go?" Chris asked watching Natalya leave the room.

"Oh, her roommate." Lance shook his head. "Her roommate isn't to happy about being here."

"Why is that?" Chris asked looking down at his phone.

"She doesn't know anyone." Lance chuckled. "She doesn't think anyone will like her."

"Well, you must like her." Chris stated, as he clicked the more options on Trish's number. "Her roommate must like her."

"Yeah, she knows that." Lance replied. "It's the fact that Natalya and I know each other and we came from the same school."

"Oh, so she doesn't know anyone from her school?" Chris chuckled. "What school did she go to?"

"Greenwich High." Lance thought about it. "I think that's it."

"I went to Greenwich High." Chris looked up away from his phone. "What's her name? Maybe I know her?"

Before Lance could answer the question, Natalya came back into the room, dragging her roommate by the arm. Chris looked up at the tall blonde that everyone was fussing about. She was fighting against Natalya's grip and hiding her face. She obviously didn't want to be in the room. Chris eyed her oddly, thinking about if he knew her. She looked very familiar, though her hair was longer and her skin was a dark tan. He shrugged and looked back down at his phone as his thumbs alternated between calling Trish and texting Trish.

"Chris, this is my roommate." Natalya stated getting her to stop being so shy. "Maryse."

"Maryse?" Chris questioned in shock looking up at the girl.

"Hi." Maryse spoke softly, not looking at Chris.

"Stop being so shy." Natalya nudged her roommate.

"Maryse?" Chris spoke again. "Wow, you don't have to be shy. It's me Chris."

"Chris?" Maryse now questioned looking up at him. "You go here?"

"Yeah, I do." Chris smiled at her. "I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Maryse smiled slightly, she was still smitten with Chris.

"See, you do know people here." Lance replied as he wrapped an arm around Natalya.

"So are the two of you coming with us?" Natalya looked from Maryse to Chris.

"I'll go if you go." Maryse answered staring at Chris.

"Chris, you have to come." Lance laughed. "The girl wants you to."

"Please!" Maryse and Natalya said at the same time.

Chris smiled at the two girls. It was clear that Maryse and him had a history, but he didn't see any harm in being friends with her. His head looked back down at his cell phone and his smile faded a bit. The love of his life was off in a different country and hadn't called him yet. They actually hadn't spoken all day today. She must be out doing something or having a good time. Why couldn't he go out and have a good time? He could always call her later tonight if he wanted to or she could call him. Chris nodded in agreement with the choice he made. He shut his phone and placed it in his pocket and shut his computer down.

"Let's go explore!" Chris replied as he put an arm around Maryse's shoulder in a friendly way.

XoxoxoxoX

Paul sat at the small booth table with his friend and roommate Shawn Michaels. They had finished moving into their dorm and unpacking. The two guys had worked up an appetite unpacking, and decided to grab a bite to eat at the campus food court building. Shawn had pretty much devoured his hamburger and fries. Where as Paul, hadn't even really touched his nachos. Shawn looked up at his friend, who was pretty much playing with his food. Paul was off in his own world. He was still fairly upset and angry with himself for what he'd done to Stephanie. He hadn't talked to her since the day after graduation and it was hard on him. He had wanted to call her so many times, but held against it. If he would have shown any sign that he was still very much in love with her, he knew she'd be sitting right next to him at the moment. Paul knew he couldn't let her crush her own dream just for him. Shawn continued watching Paul, and having enough of his sad act, he spoke up and said something.

"Dude, can you please cheer up some." Shawn sighed taking a sip of his soda.

"Sorry man." Paul half heartedly smiled. "I was just in my own world."

"You've been in your own world for the last few months." Shawn shook his head.

"I'm working on it." Paul spoke as he took a bite of his nachos.

"I still don't understand why you didn't just tell her the truth." Shawn looked at his friend. "You two would still be together and you wouldn't be acting this way."

"She wouldn't listen to me if I told her the truth and told her to still go to Boston." Paul confessed. "She would fight me against it."

"So, it was better to lie to her and break her heart?" Shawn questioned. "Now, you feel like crap?"

"Can we just drop the subject?" Paul spoke irritated with the topic at hand.

The table became quiet as the two tried to finish their meals. Shawn had finished ay before Paul, and was unsure to say anything. He didn't want to strike a nerve with his friend. Shawn tapped his fingers on the table lightly as he looked around the area. Paul didn't feel like eating, and pushed his nachos away from him. He looked up around the area and noticed two women coming towards their table. A blonde and a brunette were heading in their direction. Paul had no clue who they were at all, and judging by Shawn's look on his face, he didn't know them either. Shawn was all for it though. The two ladies approached their table and smiled at the two men.

"Would you mind if we joined you guys?" The blonde asked with a smile.

"Yeah, please do." Shawn smirked hoping this would help his friend.

"I'm Kelly." Kelly smiled at Paul as she sat in the booth next to him.

"I'm Rebecca." Rebecca stated as she sat down next to Shawn.

"I'm Shawn, and this is my friend Paul." Shawn replied, as he noticed Paul hadn't said anything just yet.

"It's nice to meet you guys." Rebecca replied as she looked at Shawn.

"It's nice to meet you ladies as well." Paul finally spoke as he gave the girls a genuine smile. "What brings you ladies over to us?"

"Well, we're throwing a party and wanted to know if you guys wanted to come." Rebecca stated her eyes never once leaving Shawn.

"Why us out of all these men here?" Paul questioned as he looked at Kelly.

"Well, you two just look like you could use some fun." Kelly smiled at him. "Am I right?"

"You are defiantly right!!" Shawn answered before Paul could say anything. "When and where and we will both be there."

"Awesome!!!" Rebecca and Kelly responded in union as Kelly wrote down the address. "Here, maybe you guys could show up a bit early?"

"Well, see." Shawn nodded at the two ladies. "We'll see you two later tonight."

"Bye!" Rebecca raised an eyebrow at Shawn.

"See ya later Paul." Kelly blushed a bit as she said goodbye.

"It was nice meeting you Kelly." Paul smiled as she walked away.

The two girls looked away and Shawn snatched the napkin away from Paul. He knew that Paul would throw it away or something. He read the address and immediately knew the girls were in a sorority house. Shawn nodded in approval as he looked up at his friend.

"They are in a sorority." Shawn grinned.

"Yeah, ok." Paul sighed. "Do we have to go to this party?"

"Yes, we do!" Shawn replied. "You need to get out of this funk."

"I'm not in a funk." Paul answered defensively.

"Then you'll go to this party." Shawn smirked. "You can't stay in, you'll just be reminded of the past."

Paul thought about what Shawn said. He was right in a lot of ways. He knew he'd keep thinking about Stephanie. So maybe it was a good idea to go out and it was his college experience. Paul did admit to himself that Kelly was kind of attractive, but he wasn't near ready to start dating again. For some reason, he still had some little hope of a rekindling with Stephanie later down the line. Then he'd remember what he had told her at the bonfire. It was possible that she would never want to speak with him again. Paul knew her better then that, and sooner or later, they would be able to talk again and at least be friends. He sighed as he shut his eyes. He couldn't dwell on the past no matter how bad he wanted to go back. He looked at his friend from across the table and gave him a half smile as he nodded.

"What time is the party?" Paul questioned.

"That's my man!" Shawn smirked as the two got up from the table and headed back to their dorm.

XoxoxoxoX

Stephanie back into her dorm room that was already set up. Her roommate that she hadn't met yet had moved in the day before wasn't present at the moment. Stephanie's parents and Shane had just helped her move in and unpack everything. She had just walked them back to their car and said their goodbyes. She was now officially on her own now. Her eyes scanned the room she was in. Half the room was full of different colors of pink, which happened to be her side. Her roommate's side was multiple shades of purple. The colors meshed well together and it didn't bother Stephanie at all. As much as her room seemed so bright with all the colors, she felt sadden and lonely in the room. She was clearly not over Paul and it still hurt. Stephanie sat down on her bed as she looked around the room still. She was determined to get over Paul, but she knew that was going to be extremely hard given the circumstances that were at state. It would be even more hard for her to get over him, but she wouldn't think about it right now. Or at least, she'd try not to think about it. Stephanie's eyes shot towards the door opening and saw a black haired woman enter the room. The woman smiled at her and she returned the smile.

"Hi, I'm Melina." Melina smiled extending her hand to Stephanie.

"Stephanie." Stephanie smiled back taking her hand and shaking Melina's.

"I love the pink." Melina replied as she walked over to her desk. "My second favorite color."

"I think it meshes well with the purple." Stephanie spoke giving her approval.

"Yeah, I agree." Melina answered grabbing her car keys. "Are you doing anything?"

"No, not really." Stephanie responded. "Just laying around."

"Aw, you should come with me and my boyfriend." Melina said twirling her keys. "We're going to the movies."

"I don't want to intrude or be a third wheel." Stephanie retorted nicely.

"You wouldn't be a third wheel." Melina giggled. "He's bringing his roommate too."

"I don't know." Stephanie stated, she was feeling a bit tired.

Melina was about to speak, but was cut off when her boyfriend and his roommate walked into the room. A huge smile formed on Melina's face as her boyfriend made his way over to her and kissed her. Stephanie frowned a bit at the couple in front of her. It clearly reminded her of her past relationship. She slowly looked away from the couple and looked up at the roommate. She smiled at him and he smiled at her. He was fairly attractive and had a great smile. Stephanie was taken aback as he sat down on her bed right next to her.

"I'm The Miz." Miz smiled at Stephanie. "And you are?"

"Stephanie." Stephanie blushed a bit. "The Miz?"

"It his stupid nickname." Melina laughed. "He wont ever use his real name."

"Really?" Stephanie looked back at Miz.

"That's right, the first name isn't that great." Miz stated as he looked up at the couple.

"I'm John." John replied introducing himself. "Will you be going to the movies with us?"

"I'm not too sure." Stephanie answered honestly.

"Oh, you should go with us." Miz instructed with a smile. "A pretty girl like yourself shouldn't be sitting in your room alone."

"I'm really tired though." Stephanie gave an innocent smile.

"Well, then I'll just stay here with you." Miz smirked and looked at Melina and John. "You two can go to the movies alone."

"Miz!" Melina looked at him shocked. "She might have a boyfriend."

"Do you?" Miz turned and looked at Stephanie.

"No, I don't." Stephanie looked down a bit.

"Oh…" Melina let out knowing full well of the situation. "Miz, why don't you come with us and let Steph stay here by herself."

"Why?" Miz looked over from Melina to Stephanie.

"Dude, come on." John spoke getting his friend's attention. "Let her take a nap, and maybe she'll come out with us some other time."

"Fine, I guess." Miz sighed and looked over at Stephanie. "Can I have a hug?"

"I don't even know you." Stephanie couldn't help but giggle.

"Yeah you do." Miz grinned. "I'm Miz and your Stephanie."

"Wow." Stephanie blushed. "We really know each other now."

"We sure do." Miz smiled at her. "So how about that hug?"

"Miz, let the girl be." Melina giggled.

"I just want one hug for now." Miz looked at Stephanie with his bottom lip stuck out.

"Can you just give him hug so we can get going?" John shook his head with a smile.

Stephanie leaned in and gave Miz a hug and he hugged her back. The hug felt good and she felt comfortable with it. After the hug, John, Melina and Miz left the room and shut the door on their way out. Stephanie couldn't help but have a small smile on her face. It quickly faded away as the silence took over in the room. She kicked off her shoes and leaned up against the head board while laying on the bed. Her mind was racing with thoughts. Miz was really nice and she couldn't help but notice how cute he was. Thinking about Miz quickly made her start to think about Paul. A soft sigh escaped her lips as her thoughts drifted to Paul. She couldn't help but wonder what he was doing at the moment. Stephanie shut her eyes as she took her right hand and placed it on her chest. She felt her chain around her neck and the small piece of jewelry on the chain. She picked it up and played with the piece that just happened to be the promise ring Paul had given her. There was no way she could get rid of it and she wanted to keep it close to her. Her fingers traced the ring as her left hand went to rest on her flat stomach. Her eyes stayed shut as another sigh escaped her lips. This year was going to be crazy for her and probably one of the most hardest years she'd ever have to go through.

XoxoxoxoX

Randy walked into his dorm room in his basketball shorts and a white tank top. He had just gotten back from the gym that he had been dying to try. He had a pretty good work out, and was about to hit the showers. As he grabbed his blue towel from his closet and his shower caddy he heard his cell phone go of indicating that he had just received a text message. He shut his closet door and walked over to his phone. Randy opened the phone to his inbox and smiled at the message. He got a tingling sensation that ran through his body and heart. They had a date today and he needed to hurry up and shower. As he was about the leave the room his roommate walked into the room.

"Hey man." Cody Rhodes stated entering the room. "Hitting the showers?"

"Yeah, I got plans." Randy nodded at his roommate.

"What, a hot date?" Cody questioned jumping on his bed.

"Pretty much." Randy smirked as he looked at his roommate.

"With who?" Cody looked up at Randy.

"My girlfriend." Randy rolled his eyes. "The girl that's in half my pictures."

"Oh damn!" Cody chuckled. "I thought she was just a really hot friend of yours."

"Oh, like I couldn't hook up with her?" Randy rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"She's a 100 out of 10." Cody nodded in approval. "Didn't know you had it in you."

"Oh whatever man!" Randy hit Cody with his towel.

"How long have you been dating her?" Cody questioned very interested in his girlfriend.

"For the past four months." Randy smiled. "Though we've dated prior to that."

"Oh, so it's an old flame." Cody smirked. "Does she have a hot roommate?"

"I haven't met her roommate yet." Randy looked at himself in the mirror.

"Well, when you do hook a brother up." Cody laughed as he got up from the bed.

"Do it yourself man." Randy chuckled as he left the room.

Randy walked down to the community bathroom where the showers were. He walked to an empty stall and went inside. He closed the first curtain and stripped the clothing from his body. Randy then turned into the shower and turned the water on. Hot water ran from the spout as he stepped inside and shut the second curtain. He lathered his body with soap as he began humming to himself, while thinking of his girlfriend. She had to be the best thing that had happened to him in a long while. After being heartbroken by Candice, he didn't think he'd fall for anyone again as hard. His girlfriend had proven him wrong, and she continued to prove him each and everyday. He had feelings for her before Candice entered the picture, but he assumed that Candice was the proof he needed to let him know that his feelings were indeed strong and true for his girlfriend. Candice would always have a special place in his heart, but she was no longer the love of his life. Randy finished up his shower and shut the water off. He quickly dried off as best he could and then proceeded to wrap the towel around his waist. He pulled back both curtains and exited the shower stall. He walked out of the community bathroom and walked down the hall to his room. A few girls walked passed him and couldn't help but giggle and blush. Randy lived on a unisex floor and so it was bound to happen. He didn't care, he knew he looked good. It also didn't bother him, because he was so into his girlfriend that he honestly didn't even notice the other women around him. Randy reached his room and walked in and shut the door behind him. Cody was on his laptop doing something that was keeping him preoccupied. Randy began to change and get ready for his date.

"Dude, there is this party tonight." Cody replied his eyes never leaving the screen. "You want to go?"

"Probably not." Randy spoke as he pulled his jeans up over his boxers. "Unless…"

"Unless your girlfriend goes." Cody shook his head. "You are so whipped!"

"You just wish you could be whipped over someone." Randy laughed pulling his shirt over his head.

"Yeah right." Cody stated sarcastically. "Have you seen my body? I'm God's gift to women!"

"First of all, I don't swing that way and I don't check guys out." Randy shook his head as he put some gel in his hair. "Secondly, God's gift to women? Let's not get ahead of yourself here."

"I can have any woman I want." Cody nodded with a smirk.

"Really, any woman?" Randy questioned. "I beg to differ."

"Name one girlfriend that wouldn't want me?" Cody eyed Randy as he was putting his last minute touches to his appearance.

"My girlfriend." Randy grinned as he finished getting ready.

"Ok, any single woman." Cody rephrased his line.

"Whatever man." Randy stated as he grabbed his car keys. "I'll catch you later."

With that said, Randy left the dorm room quickly. He looked at his watch on his wrist and smiled realizing that he would be on time. Even though Randy could have easily just walked to her dorm, he wanted to pick her up since they would be leaving campus and going into town. His heart raced as he got into his car and made his way to her dorm. He pulled up in the area where he saw meters and other parking spaces. A smile crept onto his face as he pulled up to the side of the building as he saw her waiting outside. She looked beautiful. He rolled down the passenger's side window with a smirk.

"Excuse me Miss." Randy raised his eyebrow. "I'm supposed to be picking up my girlfriend, but if you hurry and get in the car, I'd be more then happy to take you out instead."

XoxoxoxoX

Stacy smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had just finished changing from her clothes that she wore when she was moving into her dorm. She wore a pink striped shirt with a v-neck with short sleeves. Along with the shirt, she wore white short shorts since it was still fairly warm out. Her blonde hair just flowed down to her shoulders. While she was turning around in the mirror and checking herself out, her roommate walked into the room. The red haired woman just watched as her blonde roommate spun about in front of the mirror. She smirked knowing where she was off to.

"The boyfriend coming?" Maria Kanellis, the roommate questioned.

"Yeah." Stacy blushed softly. "We're going into town."

"Aw, a date!" Maria smiled. "That's so sweet."

"I know!" Stacy giggled. "I'm kind of excited."

"Girl, you aren't kind of excited." Maria giggled along with her. "You are excited, you're all red in the face."

"I don't know why." Stacy answered. "He just has that affect on me."

"Well, that's always a good thing." Maria spoke as she sat down on her bed.

"You have a boyfriend?" Stacy asked as she continued to look at herself in the mirror.

"No, not yet." Maria replied. "I'm not ready for a relationship right now."

"Aw, why not?" Stacy asked turning to her roommate.

"I'm not ready to settle down." Maria smirked. "I want to party and live it up."

"You can do that while you are in a relationship." Stacy nodded. "I do it all the time."

"Does your boyfriend know?" Maria questioned looking at Stacy.

"Yeah, he does." Stacy answered honestly. "Sometimes we go out together or separate."

"Aw, so you two aren't the couple that do everything together?" Maria nodded her head in approval.

"We know how much is too much." Stacy stated as she ran a hand through her hair.

"That's good." Maria smiled as she laid down on her bed.

Stacy smiled back at Maria as she looked back at herself in the mirror. It was going to be a hard school year for her, just because she wasn't with her friends. She had her boyfriend, but a girl needed her best friends. She knew she could call them and communicate with them whenever, but she didn't want to seem like the clingy one. Maria was really nice and she could see herself being really good friends with her. Stacy had to admit though, when leaving her best friends behind, and them leaving her, she began to get commitment issues. She didn't want anything that was long term. Yeah, her boyfriend was long term, but they weren't committed to one another, such as engaged or anything. If it ever came down to getting engaged, she honestly wouldn't know what to do. Luckily she wouldn't have to worry about that just yet. She was still young and she was loving her life and every bit of it. Except for the change part.

"Hey, does your boyfriend have a roommate?" Maria questioned out of the blue.

"Yeah, I believe so." Stacy answered as she leaned over her bed to grab her cell phone.

"Is he cute?" Maria wondered aloud.

"I haven't met him yet." Stacy giggled. "I thought you weren't looking for a boyfriend."

"I'm not, I'm just looking for a good time." Maria laughed. "But if the connection was there, I wouldn't let it pass me by."

"Maria, you are so…" Stacy didn't know the words to say.

"I know, I know." Maria smiled shaking her head. "I love me too."

"We are going to have one crazy year." Stacy sighed as she looked at the time on her phone.

"Oh hell yeah!" Maria stated sitting back up on her bed. "We're going to make it the best too."

"I sure hope so." Stacy smiled. "I'm going to get going now."

"Ok, see you later Stace!" Maria spoke as Stacy walked out of the room.

She headed down the hall and to the elevator. She waited patiently as she sent a text message to her boyfriend. The elevator came to her floor, and she got in. She pressed the one that would take her down to the lobby. Once the elevator stopped at the lobby, she got off and walked into the lobby. She went over to the vending machine and got herself a water bottle before walking outside. Twisting the cap off of her water bottle, she stood outside waiting for her boyfriend. She took a sip and put the cap back on. A smile crept on her face as she heard a car pull up to the side of building. She shook her head as the window rolled down.

"Excuse me Miss." Randy raised his eyebrow. "I'm supposed to be picking up my girlfriend, but if you hurry and get in the car, I'd be more then happy to take you out instead."

Stacy walked over to the car putting on a small strut to show off her long legs. She opened the car door, and placed her left leg in first. Randy's eyes followed her leg from the bottom to the top. He had to admit, he loved her legs. Stacy smirked with a slight giggle as she got into the car. She shut the door and looked over at Randy. They kissed and then Randy put the car back in drive. Stacy gently hit him in the arm as he took off down the street.

"What was that for?" Randy questioned looking at her.

"For picking up some hot woman standing outside instead of your girlfriend." Stacy smirked.

"Aw, could you blame me?" Randy smiled at the blonde woman next to him.

"Yeah, I could." Stacy raised an eyebrow. "Your girlfriend is probably devastated that you just blew her off."

"She'll be ok." Randy answered. "Don't worry about it."

"You didn't even call her and tell her." Stacy replied as she looked at Randy.

"Oh, I'm sure she wont mind." Randy grinned at Stacy. "She'd understand, that I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to take such a beautiful woman out."

"Well, when you put it like that." Stacy blushed with a smile.

Randy smiled back over at Stacy as he took his right hand and held her left hand while he continued to drive. The soft sound of the radio played through the car as the two shared in a conversation about anything and everything. Stacy smiled to herself as she looked out the window. She honestly couldn't picture herself anywhere else at the moment. Randy quickly glanced over at Stacy and couldn't help but smile. She was amazing and he loved it. He loved her and that was that. Randy pulled up to a red light and he looked back at Stacy as he put the brakes on. Stacy looked back over at Randy and they exchanged smiles. Randy leaned in with Stacy meeting him half way. They shared another sweet kiss that was only one of many more to come.

XoxoxoxoX

Well, that's it for this story. This was the final chapter. I hope you all liked it and I hope you all are excited about the sequel. The sequel should be out soon, but not right away. Thanks again to all of you who read my story and to all who reviewed it. The reviews kept me wanting to update. You readers are the best and I couldn't ask for better readers. Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed this story as I have enjoyed writing it.

The sequel will be called, "All Grown Up" so be on the lookout for it.

Citcat


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